Sunday 15 November 2015

Colour In November

In 2013, I followed the late Geoff Hamilton's advice and visited a nursery or garden centre each month of the year with a view to purchasing a plant in flower. This should now ensure that I have something blooming in my garden every month of the year.

In November 2013, I purchased sedum spectabile Brilliant. It was flowering at the time, however, it must have been held back in the garden centre as it's flowered much earlier in the two years I've had it and I wrote about it last month in my Colour In October post. It means that I had a bit of a flowering gap in November so I needed something to fill that space.


During my recent visit to RHS Harlow Carr, I popped in to their plant centre to see what was flowering. I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the selection. I know it's November but there wasn't that much to choose from. I ended up bringing home this Oxalis lobata.

It's only a small specimen at the moment but hopefully it will spread, providing that it survives the winter. Being an alpine, it can withstand several degrees of frost, however, I'm not sure it will enjoy being waterlogged so it will be important to try and shelter it a little and give it some drainage. I'm sure it would actually be much happier living in an alpine house but I'm afraid I can't provide that. One nice feature of this plant is that it's got a strong honey scent.

Just one more month to go now and then I've achieved my aim to have colour in the garden the whole year round.

36 comments:

  1. Jo, your Oxalis looks lovely. I've had a pink Oxalis growing inside for many years (not tried outside yet).
    Right now it has so many beautiful small pink flowers!
    Congratulations on almost completing your goal :)

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    1. It's certainly a cheery flower for November. I'm pleased with how the majority of my 2013 purchases have done so far, I hope the plants I've bought this year do as well.

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  2. Pass on that tip is the best gardening advise I have ever had, our garden always looks bare in the winter.

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    1. It's a great tip and ensures that there's colour in the garden the whole year through.

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  3. Nice looking plant and flowers. I hope that it does well for you. Flighty xx

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    1. I'm always worried whether plants will come through winter unscathed but this one has come with a five year guarantee from Harlow Carr so it should do well.

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  4. That's a lovely plant - most of the oxalis I've seen around here are planted for their leaves, which can be large and colourful. I actually didn't realize that they flowered.

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    1. I've grown oxalis triangularis in the past, that has beautiful coloured leaves and pretty flowers, sadly that one didn't survive winter.

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  5. Lovely to have colour in the garden all year round.
    This is pretty Jo, such an intense colour.
    I love alpines, tiny flowers always fascinate me.

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    1. My garden has always suffered from a lack of colour in the winter so purchasing a plant in flower each month has certainly made a difference. Alpines are such pretty flowers, I'm very fond of them too.

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  6. Forgot to say:- honey scent.....now that is worth having in a garden.

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    1. Definitely. There's actually some wonderful plants for winter scent.

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  7. Oxalis grows as a weed in my garden, though it is evidently not an ornamental variety like yours. Mine has reddish stems and leaves and little tiny yellow flowers. It is exceptionally difficult to eradicate because it will re-grow from even a tiny piece of root (a bit like Mint).

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    1. I think there are quite a few types of oxalis which grow like weeds. They're very pretty plants though with their ornamental leaves and pretty flowers.

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  8. That should certainly brighten up the garden on a dreary day Jo and you have the bonus of scent too :)

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    1. It's a win win situation. It may be a small specimen but the flowers give a big impact.

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  9. Wonderful that you are having so much colour in the garden all year long! It has been a great challenge for you and a great idea too! I remember that advice from Geoff Hamilton too. xx

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    1. It's really good advice, it makes you look for plants which will provide colour in the garden in every season.

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  10. That sounds amazing! I wish I had the gardening talent to have color year round.

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    1. You really don't need any talent if you follow this advice, it's just a case of looking round a garden centre and choosing a plant you like the look of which is flowering.

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  11. That looks lovely Jo, a lovely bright splash of colour and a scent as well.

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    1. It's such a cheery flower, a vivid colour. I'm always pleased when a plant I like the look of is scented.

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  12. Hey Jo,
    A lovely pop of colour for November! I still have Cosmos flowering in the garden, although they are starting to look a bit past their sell by date.
    Leanne xx

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    1. It's such a lovely bright colour for November, though as you say, lots of things are still hanging on this year due to the mild weather.

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  13. What a fantastic idea, I shall have to remember that one for next year :-)

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    1. I started doing this in 2013 and it really does work, there's so much more colour in my garden these days than there was before.

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  14. This looks an attractive plant with pretty leaves too that will give colour in the Winter garden. I hope it does well for you.

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    1. It looks like a good all rounder with pretty leaves as well as flowers, I like that. I'm just hoping that I don't lose it through winter.

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  15. It never ceases to amaze me how the plants that flower in the cooler months always look so delicate. Its a gorgeous little flower. Sounds like you have been having lots of rain too?

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    1. You're right, they do. It's amazing how they survive freezing temperatures as well as snowfall, they're such hardy little things. We've certainly had our fair share of rain just lately and it's meant to get colder this week too.

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  16. I do so hope this plant does well for you Jo - the colour is lovely, perfect for this time of year, and with pretty leaves too.
    I wish I could smell that honey scent from here - that is an unusual bonus!

    Wishing you a good week ahead.

    All the best Jan

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    1. I think it's a gorgeous colour for the gloomy days of November, it should certainly brighten them up. I'm a big fan of plants with scent so it ticks the box in that aspect too.

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  17. Garden centres always seem to play tricks on you as to when the natural flowering season of a plant is.
    I am always disappointed the plant shop at Harlow Carr. I see a plant that I like in the garden and I can never find it for sale. That oxalis is very unusual I've never seen a yellow one and having scent makes it very special. How hardyi is it?

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    1. So many plants in garden centres are flowering out of season so Geoff's tip doesn't always work, I think nurseries are the best places to go when plant shopping. I've never seen an oxalis like this before either, I've usually seen them with purple or white flowers so I thought this was a bit unusual. I'm not sure how hardy it is but I doubt it will be too happy if it's waterlogged so I've made sure to put plenty of grit underneath it and give it a bit of protection out of the way. It did come with a five year guarantee for hardiness though so that's quite good.

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  18. That is such a beautiful colour! How lovely that it's scented too. I agree about garden centers, they bring plants on to sell them, yes, nurseries are much better.xxx

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    1. It's such a bright colour to cheer up these dreary November days. I much prefer nurseries, they seem to have more knowledgeable staff too.

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