November

It shouldn't be a surprise to me that my brain does funny things. There was a time when I was writing a lot and when I put my laptop down (so much less romantic putting down a pen), I found that my brain was still typing my thoughts. It does something similar for weddings and Christmas. I am trying to go about my own business, to walk the dogs, to drive to work, and it will not stop scanning the hedgerows, the verges, the garden. A continuous, continuous, continuous questioning of, will that look good in a button hole? Will those roses still be in bloom in November? Will beech that is still green ruin the palette? I can see that my brain is trying to be helpful, but it is quite frankly exhausting.

So, I am probably as relieved as the bride and groom that the day has finally arrived. My one flowered wedding of 2024, which rather challengingly fell very late in a very wet difficult season. But here we are, a rather unusual “what's out now“ for November.

One plant which will be getting a very honourable mention in these particular dispatches is Abelia grandiflora. It's not plant I've known about for a long time. Indeed the first time I saw it was when Becca of the Garden Gate used it at her Nancarrow workshop, another late season celebration of dahlias. I didn't think much of it, but I clearly made a note somewhere in my mind how lovely it is because when I saw one for sale, I bought it for the perennial border. I will be buying more, or taking cuttings, or pretty much doing anything I can to get my hands on more.

My plant is now something of a stump and the one that overhangs my mother's neighbour's wall which is a little less abundant than it was on Thursday. It absolutely saved my bacon (note to self - never underestimate a filler). Due to the lack of actual flowers, I thought I would just be able to get away with lots of beech and bracken and general wildness, but the thing that made these wedding flowers (as opposed to wedding twigs) has been nestling one or two astonishingly beautiful dahlias on a background of the beautiful Abelia.

What's out in November:

/ The last of the dahlias [just hanging on]

/ Abelia grandiflora

/ The last hydrangeas

/ The first of the winter clematis

STATEMENT SEEDHEADS

/ Rosehips

/ Old man's beard

/ Hazel catkins

/ Chestnut casings

/ Teasels

FOLIAGE

/ Beech

/ All of the Viburnums, especially opulus, but what I wouldn't give for a mature V. plicatum f. tomentosum

/ Bracken

/ Blackberry leaves have an amazing texture, if you can bear the prickles

/ Ivy

I'm not usually a negative person, but it might be worth saying what hasn't been out this November which sometimes has been. I had such high hopes of the Japanese anemones and even some very late roses. Absolutely nothing. The odd 'Champagne moment' rose made a brave last-minute appearance but, in the damp, they just went over in a matter of days. Also, the warm wet weather has meant that the trees have not yet fully turned and so the abundance of golden foliage was also notable by its absence.

Another rescue from my flower field, a row of Viburnum opulus in the cutting hedge, one of the first things I ever planted fifteen years ago, saved me.

I will make a mental note to never try and flower any event of any sort in November again. As much as I have absolutely adored it, the stress of trying to manage such a late and unpredictable 'what's out now' has not been relaxing.

Just the buttonholes to do now.

I hope your dahlias have fared better than mine and that wherever you are this weekend is golden and beautiful.