November

We have a cherry blossom tree in our garden, it’s gorgeous but it’s huge. This year growing so many vegetables and flowers has made us realise how much shade this tree throws onto the garden so we decided to give it a bit of a trim this year so towards the end of October we took some of the higher branches off and thinned out the rest. You couldn’t really tell at the time but as the leaves started to fall in November it became easier to see the reshaping we’ve done. I still think it needs a bit more height taking off but it’s probably too late in the year for that now.

These photos were taken over the four weeks in November. The tree loses its leaves as quickly in Autumn as it loses its blossom in April. It’s a beautiful tree but it really does dominate the garden so we will have to have a re-think in Spring in order to maximise the light and sun in the garden for our vegetable beds.

The colours in the garden were changing in November, only the cosmos held on with the pinks and whites of the summer. Oranges, reds and yellows dominated in November. One of the hydrangeas did seem a little confused, one last push in November resulted in a new flower head, pale, yellow and not quite formed. Nature is amazing and confusing. Why would a plant waste its last little bit of energy producing a flower that was surely doomed. But it brightened up that little corner of the garden when the annuals around it were dying back. A little throw back to summer as winter arrives.

The broccoli really shot up in November – lots of little florets started to appear. The onions were just ticking along, bedding in ready for next year I think. And the spinach had another spurt so we got another late harvest of spinach. All chopped and portioned up in the freezer for our smoothies through the winter.

The bulbs I planted started to emerge too. I put extra planters in and finally put my tulips and daffodils in. I’m hoping for a glorious display come March April next year.

Not much else to do out there now, just keep on top of the falling leaves, which all got bagged up for leaf mulch next year. The difference for me this year is that I’m here at home during the day because I’m still working from home. I get to see the garden at this time of year when I wouldn’t normally. Leaving in the dark, coming home in the dark and I usually miss the garden during the week. This year I’m seeing the changes every day, as leaves fall, as plants finish, as bulbs emerge.

I thought this time of year was dead in the garden, but that’s far from the truth, the cosmos, campanula and bulbs are still out there for me to check on every day. The birds are the stars of the garden at this time of year. I find myself sitting watching them more and more in the winter. Because I’m here when it’s light I’m filling the bird feeders up more, something my husband has been doing during the summer, and I love to have my morning coffee standing watching them from my window. Life has not gone from the garden, even in November.