Remaining November Flowers

There are a few plants still producing flowers at the temperatures cool.  I suspect this Oxalis regnelli is a bit confused since it is supposed to only bloom in the spring time.  However, since it is barely winter hardy in the North Garden where it resides, there is a struggle in the spring for it to get going again.  Since it can be an aggressive and invasive plant in milder climates or locations, I am not bothered by how colder winters can radically reduce the size of the colony to a few plants. I am not sure whether to move any to the warmer sides of the house on the South and East, where it would likely be more of a nuisance. 

As the photo shows, the color of the leaves does shift to the more blue color seen in this photo in the fall, while the leaves display a much warmer purple along with warmer temperatures.

A plant in the North Garden finishing its first full season is Tinantia pringlei, the Speckled Wandering Jew, which I bought from Plant Delights.  It has been an amazing performer.  In this close-up shot, you can see the combination of features such as the dark purple stem, the freckles on the leaves, and the small pale flowers.  The plant has spread out about three feet in a low, loose mound with the stems mixing themselves into other plants, such as the Japanese painted fern in the photo.  I am hoping it will be winter hardy, and a few seedlings appear to try in other areas.

Over in the labyrinth, on a harsh site near the road, there is the Aster oblongifolius 'Fanny' which is also a new purchase from Plant Delights.  I have been trying to find more late fall blooming plants, and this is certainly the last aster to bloom, long after the native ones.  The descriptions in the catalog says it will eventually become quite large, but for its first year it has only grown to about 18 inches in diameter.  I like its loose, informal look, and look forward to seeing what happens next year.

Just so you don't think that I have a blue/purple bias for flowers, the dwarf reblooming German Iris Baby Blessed is putting on its late fall display.  I only wish I had these near those other blue flowers because I like combining blues and lavenders with this kind of light lemon colored yellows.  But this iris needs lots of sun, which would be a problem for the Tinantia and the Oxalis.  Once I get a sense of the final size of the aster, which does like sun also, I might be able to put the two together.

My final shot doesn't have any fall flowers, but it is doing so well, I just had to put it in.  It is an Agapanthus "Stevie's Wonder," also from Plant Delights, that started as a single plant.  It had a single flower stalk, with a long lasting cluster of flowers on the top in July.  David was quite surprised by it, never having noticed an Agapanthus before.  I fell in love with them from spending a month at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA where I did my training as a spiritual director.  It has developed at least three and maybe four plants, and they are going strong.