Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-November, 2013

Well, not a whole lot going on in the yard today, but a fair showing from those that ARE here.

First up, my golden shrimp plant, Pachystachys lutea, which I've nicknamed Bob Fosse because of its perpetual jazz hands. 

Next up, my pink quill, Tillandsia cyanea. This little beauty hasn't bloomed in quite some time, so it's a welcome sight on this November morning.

Finally, we have a reliable standby, red ginger, Alpinia purpurea. Unfortunately, it is also reliably difficult for me to photograph without over exposing it, but I sort of like the fiery little glow that makes it look like it's lit from within, soooo...I'm just gonna go with it.

I just realized that all of today's blooms are of the flower-poking-out-of-a-deceptively-colorful-bract-that-could-easily-be-mistaken-for-the-actual-flower variety. The real blooms in these pictures are the white parts of the golden shrimp plant; the purple part on the pink quill; and, if the red ginger were actually blooming, there would be a compact, waxy, little white flower poking out from all that red. So, technically, I guess that was a little bit of a cheat, but I won't tell if you won't!

I hope you're all having a Happy GBBD and that you'll head on over to visit our host, Carol, at May Dreams Gardens to see what else is blooming today. And, if I don't see you before then, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a day full of love, laughter, and gratitude.

P.S. I also have some lavender blooming, but I couldn't get nearly as good a picture of it as Frances got of hers, so head on over to Fairegarden to get an idea what my lavender looks like on a good day...with a better background...and a better camera...and a better photographer! Just promise you won't abondon me after you see all the gorgeousness that is Frances's blog, 'kay?

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-November 2010

I missed October GBBD, and I'm a little late getting to November's, but it is still the 15th here in my neck of the woods, so I'm counting this as a win.  I have to say, I think winter is one of my favorite times of year in my garden, and here's one of the reasons why:

This is my Euphorbia leucocephala or Mexican poinsettia, and pretty soon the entire thing will be snow white.  Lest you think I'm cheating, there are some actual blooms here.  They're just really tiny.

Aren't they cute?

Here's another white flower, my spider lily, Crinum asiaticum.  I rarely get a chance to see them from this angle as the weight of the blooms usually pulls the stem down toward the ground.  Kind of impressive from this angle, aren't they?

You can see what my lilies usually look like in the bottom left-hand corner of this picture, almost touching the ground.  Lurking in the background under my shrimp plant, is Mocha the mighty hunter.  I think she's staring at a lizard.  I don't think she's ever caught anything, but she sure likes to act like a lion stalking prey in the tall grass of the savanna.    

Speaking of tall grass, here's my red ginger, standing about six feet tall.

Here's a red ginger bloom that's done its time and now, instead of going to seed, it is doing this.  What is this you ask?  Well, I had no idea either, but back in January, I noted a similar phenomenon, and Christopher from Outside Clyde was kind enough to explain that eventually the weight of all that new growth will pull the bloom down to the ground where the keiki (baby/child) plants can put down roots and turn into new six-foot plants.  Cool, huh?

I have a bird of paradise that is a little past its prime but still interesting.  

My last vacation saw the demise of my red miniature roses, but I did what any good gardener would do and went shopping for more plants.  In the tradition of this pot, which has housed nothing but miniature roses, I am happy to have this pretty little bloom to show you this month.  

I didn't manage to show you any blooms from Tillandsia cyanea (Pink Quill) last year, but we'll see what happens this year.  

See the little purple blooms preparing to emerge?  Yay!

And, finally, my Evolvus glomeratus, or Blue Daze.  I love the pretty blue with the bright white center.  

That's all for today, but please be sure to visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what else is blooming this month.