Sunday, November 15, 2009

This Momentous GB Bloom Day

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know how unseasonably clement the weather has been over here these last two months and it has led to a bountiful Garden Bloggers Bloom Day today. Of course I'd love you to share in this bounty and feast your eyes on all that Blissful glory. So dear reader, start feasting:
Never before were there so many blooms in November in the Bliss garden, a very special treat brought to you by the absence of night frosts and cold weather.
Isn't it simply wonderful this plethora of blooms this late in the year? Rest assured that my wheelbarrow runneth over!
And apart from the usual suspects we also have some very unusual guest blooms for your delectation today:
a very pretty yellow Columbine in flower and,
also very surprising, some lovely Anemones de Caen. OK, I confess it, the last one is due to me as I planted those bulbs far too late and as a very happy result I now have pretty Anemones in flower. Being a lazy gardener can be very rewarding so I heartily recommend it.
Those woodland strawberries are still going strong, not as plentiful as they once were but not too shabby for November. It such a luxury to be able to pick a small handful of strawberries from your own garden at this time of year. It feels positively decadent!
Here is a plant that I wholeheartedly would like to recommend to you if you have the right climate for it: a perennial wallflower (Erysimum Bowles Mauve). It started flowering in Spring (no surprises there) but is still going strong now, literally covered in blooms. Absolute Bliss, with bells on!
Enjoying a glorious Bloom Day like today is wonderful but this day is even more special to me than you realise as it is also the day that my mother has turned 80. Hartelijk gefeliciteerd, ma! Happy Birthday Mum!
Here she is in her full blooming glory being serenaded at a dinner/cabaret evening last Sunday in celebration of her birthday. A great evening was had by all!
And that's not all because today is also the day that my darling Maine Coon Vita celebrates her 14th birthday; happy Birthday my sweet gentle Vita, mijn lieve zoeniecoon,
earth mother extraordinaire!
Well, I did mention that my wheelbarrow is running over today as it is such a Momentous Bloom Day, heartfelt by all here at Bliss, Jeeves included who is happily basking in the sun amidst the lashings of blooms.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to you all!
copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen

28 comments:

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

What a fun post! I agree today is a momentous day! ;-) Say, what's the flower in the third photo (small white and pink blooms)? So sweet!

Ewa said...

Oh, the weather! is really awful this year. I don't want to say that I don't like it, but it seems the ugliest October and November so far.
.
Your garden looks still pretty and has so many flowers :)
Happy Bloomin day!

Hannele på Hisingen said...

Still nice in your garden,
kram.

easygardener said...

The cold weather will be a shock to garden and gardener when it finally arrives.

Unknown said...

everything looks beautiful and those adorable cats and kittens, oh my gosh!

Tira said...

Its great that you can enjoy such an extended season of blooms. I feel the same way when our hot summer which means plants succumbing to heat, arrives late! love the anemones and happy birthday to your mother.

Matron said...

Would Vita's second name be Sackville-West by any chance?

Ellie said...

Your garden still looks gorgeous. Didn't you have an early frost mid October? Those 2 nights damaged a lot of plants/flowers.
Happy birthday to your mom!

Shirley said...

Hello there Yolanda! Fantastic to see you have sunshine in your garden. Interesting to read you recommend the wallflower… so did I :-D

We were hit by our first frost last week but this wallflower is still flowering its purple socks off! Is it hardy with you… do you protect your plants at all?

Hope you have a sunny week ahead :-D

Rusty in Miami said...

Beautiful blooms, I specially like the maroon hollyhocks

Aiyana said...

Beautiful blooms in your garden. Our weather has been nice--but we have had no rain at all. I'm not expecting many flowers next spring, unless we get some really good winter showers.

Diana said...

Yolanda -- I can't believe how many lovely blooms you have in the garden. You must be so pleased to have your growing season extended so much. Looks like you and your Mum and your kitty had great birthday celebrations. Cheers to all!

em said...

YE, wow your mom looks terrific! great genes you have going there. it sounds like its even warmer there than it is here. we had 70F today and it was glorious. glad you and your flowers are thriving, and thanks for sharing!

Sophie Munns said...

Gorgeous Yolanda!
Happy 80th to your Mum. Its my mothers's 80th next year...andy tips?

Love the "wheelbarrow runneth over" bit...I'm sure it does our garden is magic!!!!
greetings from the hot old north of down under!
S

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Oh gosh Yolanda, your garden still looks so very beautiful. Nice to see the sun, I have had hmm could it be 12 minutes of sunshine during November, it was a friday that I do remember :-)Lets hope for a better second half.
xoxo Tyra

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Welcome to blooming Bliss!

*Monica: that's Aster lateriflorus Lady in Black. When in flower it's covered with flowers but it looks pretty good, because of its very dark foliage, without flowers too.

*Ewa: oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that the weather has been really nasty where you live.

* Hannele: yes it is, very surprisingly so.

* Nicole: the short term effects of global warming are great as they extend the gardening season quite a lot. The long term effects however will be devastating as most of my country, the Bliss garden included, will disappear beneath the sea.

* Easygardener: you are not wrong!

* Michelle: adorable is the right word for them, I agree. ;-)

* Matron: yes, indeed, my Vita was named after that illustrous gardener as both are the proud owners of a very aristocratic nose and Vita (my Vita) is a real lady. ;-)

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

It's a bountiful feast of blooms! I'm glad somebody enjoyed October. We've finally got the good weather back, but it's too late for most of my garden. Happy Birthday to your mom, she does not look anywhere near 80. I think I have the same Erysium (I lost the tag), I'm hoping it makes it through the winter, as I've never grown one before.

Anonymous said...
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Chookie said...

A special day indeed! Best wishes to your mother for many more years of health and happiness!

healingmagichands said...

Indeed a very special day, filled with special blooms. Love the Mamma cat photo -- makes me want a kitten! No need for one of those right now, it would make Smokey's twilight years unutterably annoying, I'm afraid.

Annie in Austin said...

Not only your wheelbarrow but your vocabulary runneth over, Yolanda - you're obviously enjoying November this year!

Happy Birthday both to your mom and to the furry earth mother! May I ask how you pronounce Vita? Do you call her V-EYE-Tah or VEE-tah or VAYTah or something else? It's a name I've seen often in print but not heard spoken.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Anonymous said...

Dear YE, it was a special pleasure to see you mother enjoying her birthday celebration. I do hope that lovely lady was not blowing a horn right into her ear however! :-) And the sweet Vita, I remember the story of how she cared for the kittens of another, it brought tears from your moving telling. So many blooms, who would think it is mid November! Bliss indeed. :-)
Frances

Gail said...

A bounty of Blissness YE! So many lovely blooms, a darling and beloved mother's birthday and celebrating the kitty's birthday. it would be wonderful to have fresh strawberries from the garden right now. gail

Robin's Nesting Place said...

What a delight to have so many blooms in November! I have had more than usual too, but not like you!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to your mother and your lovely cat.
My best wishes for the coming years.
****
Yolanda
If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy,
and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry,
more immortal - that is your success.
All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself.
- Henry David Thoreau

Karin said...

Ohh you really do have a lot of things blooming still! I've seen that some roses are still flowering here but the frost took all other flowers. Congratulations on the two celebrating birthdays! Take care and have a wonderful weekend! Kram!

Anonymous said...
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Rina ... also Chester or Daisysmum. said...

Happy birthday to Mum. All mum's are very special
Even puddycat mums, I counted 4 kittens? Vita is so pretty. I really like your photo's.