Evergreen shrubs provide most of the color in my Connecticut garden for this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Holly's red berries contrast beautifully with its dark green leaves.

Coast leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris), a Connecticut native, shows off its ruby red leaf color against backdrops of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), another Connecticut native, and carex.

Pieris andromeda similarly plays red against green.

These workhorse shrubs will provide most of the color contrast in my gardens throughout winter. But in mid-November color also holds on elsewhere.

Spiraea Double Play Artist, a Proven Winners shrub I received as a trial plant in 2011, is not yet ready to stop attracting attention.

This compact shrub is expected to grow to about two and one-half feet tall and wide. It is fast becoming one of my favorites, showing red-tinged new growth that matures to dark green, and dark pink blossoms in spring. With deadheading, the shrub will rebloom through autumn, when the leaves again provide seasonal color.

Just out of the shot of the spiraea above is a shrub rose, and this is where I found the best surprise of the morning.

Through super storm Sandy, an early Nor'easter snowfall, and nighttime temperatures into the high 20's, this little rose managed to push out one more bloom … as if she wanted to be the November 2012 star of the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post from joene's garden.

She succeeded.

To see the stars blooming in gardens all over the world please visit May Dreams Gardens where Carol kindly hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Joene Hendry

Related posts:
October reds - Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
White stars, stand-by blooms, a surprise, and reds of autumn–September’s Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in Connecticut
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day in Connecticut
A Connecticut garden in May
March 2012 Blooms in Connecticut

Categories: Bloom Day, Seasons.
Tags: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gardening in Connecticut, holly berries, kalmia latifolia, leucothoe, pieris andromeda, Proven Winners, shrub rose, spiraea Double Play Artist.

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joene's garden

Cool days and nights and overcast skies marked the first half of June in south central Connecticut. Nearly daily rain of some amount interspersed with heavy downpours and strong thunderstorms kept soils consistently wet. Pansies, loving the cool temperatures, still bloom. Ferns and mosses thrive in the nearly constant moisture. The peonies were glorious, but short-lived – just as the biggest blossoms opened wide rains pelted them down. The last of my peony blossoms will go by this week, but later blooming iris are coming on strong along with many other happy blossoms to show on Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, June 2010.

A trio of scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue'

Trandescantia of unknown variety … traveled with me for years from house to house.

Dianthus deltoides, or Maiden Pinks 'Arctic Fire'

An ever lovely hosta … I don't recall hosta blooming this early before.

Louisiana iris 'Black Gamecock'

Peony hybrid 'Nancy Nora' dancing with Stachys (Lamb's Ear).

Allium 'Hair' shows off a unique personality.

Hydrangea Endless Summer flirting with nearby astilbe.

Coral bells … another long time plant companion.

A sea of lavenders. Can one ever have too many lavenders?

  Iris ensata – unknown variety with huge blossoms. I cannot have too many iris.

The dainty shrub rose Mystic Meidiland.

Rose campion always has a mind of its own.

  Penstemon digitalis.

And I fell for the new supertunia 'Pretty Much Picasso' – the name alone is enough to attract attention, but I could not resist the color combination of these flowers.

Last June my peonies were in full glory. This year everything seems to be blooming about 2 weeks earlier  compared to last. I also had poppies blooming in 2009. This year the greens are there but, sadly, no buds popped up.

Be sure to visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens – the originator of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day -  to see what she has popping from her soils and what other garden bloggers - from all corners of the U.S. and beyond – have to show off on this monthly bloomin' blossom bash.

Related posts:
Bloom Day – July 2009
Lingering …
June Bloom Day
Octoberfest Bloom Day
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-a tardy entry

Categories: Bloom Day, Gardening, Perennials & Annuals.
Tags: Allium "Hair", astilbe, coral bells, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosta, hydrangea, iris, lavender, penstemon, peony, pinks, Pretty Much Picasso petunias, rose campion, scabiosa, shrub rose, trandescantia.

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joene's garden

It's been chilly, rainy, and cloudy, but flowers brighten the days.

peony

shrub rose

rugosa rose

poppy

Also blooming are salvia silvestris, Sweet William, foxglove, geranuim sanguineum, rose campion, lobelia, nasturtium, campanual cup and saucer, sedum, coral bells, many varieties of pinks, trandescantia, an orangy-red nasturtium I started from seeds that are supposed to be creamy yellow, and an oriental poppy 'Princess Victoria Louise' started from seed in 2004 and blooming for the first time this year.  Also blooming: penstemon, snow-in-summer, wild yarrow, mountain laurel (Connecticut's state flower), and my last dark purple bearded iris.  I have photos of most, but for some reason photo uploads are touchy today.  Happy bloom day everyone.

Categories: Bloom Day, Gardening, Perennials & Annuals.
Tags: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, oriental poppy, peony, rugosa rose, shrub rose.

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joene's garden