Beautiful Blooms in November: Gardener's Luck or Global Warming?

Texas sage, pansies, purple amaranthus, gaillardia, mums and bright red ornamental chard. All are still blooming away in my Delaware garden, and it’s heading into late November. By now, my early winter garden has usually been stripped of life and color by a series of hard frosts and freezes. Northern Delaware's mean temperature is supposed to be around 46˚ F with extended dips in the low 30s, but this year it’s far warmer. Many days have been in the 60s and 70s and nights have been relatively mild. Gardener's luck or global warming?

Either way, I've flower color where there's usually none, so I'm making the most of it. Yesterday I picked a bouquet of cheerful blooms for my table, to the delight of my daughter, and I’m keeping plants deadheaded in case the warm weather remains a little longer. The 10 day forecast suggests temperatures will remain in the 50s and 60s. If it’s accurate, we'll have an almost balmy Thanksgiving (very unseasonable). I guess that means lots of garden fresh parsley, sage, thyme and rosemary for the meal.

Bright red Texas sage, chard and amaranthus still glow in my Delaware flower garden (11/19/09)

Unseasonably late warm temperatures hold a potentially serious downside. Some plants are prone to exhibit premature bud break. Regionally hardy native plants are “smart” and will remain dormant in weather like this, but lots of non-native ornamentals, like forsythia, hybrid roses, wine grapes and South Asian willows, may start to break bud and produce new leaves in response to extended warm winter days. If they break bud, they’ll be goners once the real cold hits—especially if it comes on quickly. The vulnerable,newly emerged tissues will die. In many cases, this will kill whole plants. I’ve seen willows die this way. After a cold blast, their non-dormant stems split open with curls of ice because there was lots of water flowing in their stems when they should not have been. Dormancy protects plants from winter.

 

Late winter warmth and garden color feels and looks nice but in reality it's not a good thing

So, despite the enjoyable balmy days we are experiencing across much of the Mid-Atlantic, I’d rather have the seasonal cold. It’s better for the natural environment, which means it’s better for us. Forget about the flowers (as hard as it might be).

Posted by Jessie Keith at 11/17/2009 7:39 PM
Categories: Winter Gardening, Flower Gardening
Tags: Salvia coccinea Beta vulgaris var. cicla purple amaranthus Chrysanthemum gaillardia Forsythia warm winter Viola x wittrockiana Global Warming thyme Vitis Premature bud break sage Willow Salix rosemary pansies Gaillardia x grandiflora Texas sage Swiss chard parsley Grape
 

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  • 11/22/2009 3:04 PM Annie Chan wrote:
    You're right. There are still marigolds in my garden.
    Reply to this
  • 9/6/2010 11:12 AM Fat Loss 4 Idiots wrote:
    This is my first time at your blog and I've really enjoyed looking around. I will come back again in the future to check out some of the other articles.
    Reply to this
  • 11/24/2010 7:19 PM Knipp wrote:
    Thanks for this great blog!
    Reply to this
  • 12/21/2010 12:05 AM Sebek9 wrote:
    Can anybody commenting right here refer me to an alternate source for further research.
    Reply to this
  • 1/18/2011 9:37 AM Chrissy wrote:
    Interesting blog. Thanks
    Reply to this
  • 3/10/2011 5:39 AM Cammie wrote:
    Great site ! ! I like your pictures.
    Reply to this
  • 3/17/2011 5:39 AM Cammie wrote:
    There are few articles out there on this subject. Thanks for your blog.
    Reply to this
  • 4/14/2011 1:21 PM Janet Carpenter wrote:
    Just stumbled onto your blog and I LOVE IT. One question, though, HOW do you work full-time, have two kids, and keep your yard/garden looking so beautiful, no to mention keeping up with the blog? You must be amazing. I don't have kids, but do work two jobs and never have enough time outside. I look forward to your future posts. thanks!
    Reply to this
    1. 4/16/2011 11:19 AM Jessie Keith wrote:

      Hi Janet,

      Thanks so much for the complementary comments! The lateness of my response should speak for my time constraints. Admittedly I spend a lot of time running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I work from home, which helps, but juggling kids, work and garden is still complicated. I try to get my children involved as much as possible. (For now, my 7-month-old enjoys admiring the garden from her stroller, and my mudpuppy 4-year-old is easily diverted with a watering can and patch of dirt if she gets bored planting and picking.) And on off days when they’re not interested, I hit the garden when my husband gets home.

      Thankfully, I built my ornamental beds before kids, so they're on cruise control. Seasonal cleaning, twice yearly edging, annual mulching, occasional weeding, dividing, deadheading and planting is all that's needed. (Okay, maybe that’s a lot.) My veggie garden takes a bit more work, but I just stick to it and make sure I do a little something towards it almost every day. I also do a really good job preparing my vegetable beds so they require less work through the season.

      I try to get posts out at least once weekly. The next one will probably be vegetable garden related because I've so much work to do in that arena. Look out for it!

      Jessie


      Reply to this
  • 5/26/2011 2:03 AM Jodie Maria wrote:
    Helpful and interesting article. I see odd variation in my South Florida growing season too. I'm convinced in climate change.
    Reply to this
  • 6/29/2011 10:14 AM Saw Palmetto wrote:
    Great to here from a fellow enthusiast!


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