Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Still Foxy in November


The other day my husband and I looked all over the house for the macro lens because I had noticed something that needed capturing for the garden-archives. We got to the point where we were seriously thinking about contacting our insurance company, as every place we looked turned up empty. The 300 mm. zoom lens was also missing--as was the camera case. We thought back to the last place we took the camera...but every place we'd been since Halloween involved only the 55 mm. regular lens. Carrying the zoom and the macro can get heavy, so they aren't necessary or appropriate for every situation. Finally my husband discovered the camera case with lenses, inside a cupboard--where I had tucked them away 'safely', weeks before. After feeling relieved, my first thought was "has it really been over a month since I've photographed my garden?". Apparently so. I realized that I have taken the garden for granted since the leaves have been falling, and had all but given up on finding anything new or worth blogging about. So, despite my blogging-motivation-level being on empty right now, I must introduce you to Foxy.


Two summers ago I brought her home from a local nursery. I put her down--still in her nursery pot--in one of the front gardens, near the house. As the autumn came and went I apparently got lazy and never planted her in the ground. I had done the same thing with some other plants I'd brought home in the past, and often in the spring they had sent up new greenery, over-wintering just fine in their pots. Well, when last spring arrived, there was no sign of Foxy anywhere. I just chalked it up to another fatal mistake based on my own laziness--a not uncommon scenario around here--I confess.


Late in the recent summer I observed leaves and stems, growing in a couple of places I knew I had never planted anything. Not knowing what they were I assumed they were weeds--but I didn't pull them. I knew all too well the other fatal mistakes this gardener has made, ripping something out of the ground, only to discover too late it was something worth hanging on to (ie: a dahlia I'd forgotten I'd planted in early spring was pulled, in late summer, thinking it was a weed). There are more examples, but I'll not go into them here, lest I blow my cover on my garden prowess!


I just think it's so miraculous to see something that was left for dead, emerge so fully and remain so vibrant and strong so late in the season. AKA Digitalis purpurea is not a native plant, but is a beauty in many ways. She adds light to the garden with her pure whiteness, yet brings whimsey with her purple polka dots. She fills in spaces and holds her own, yet does not take over, preferring to develop a few strong, individual plants rather than send up too many weedy-looking seedlings. Once I'd done some research and learned who she is, I realized that those 4 'weeds' were gifts to hang on to! What I don't understand is WHY is she blooming in late November, when everything I read about her says she's a late spring/early summer bloomer? If you have any ideas about that, please share them with me!


Foxy and her clones have been placed in a certain area of the front garden to blend in well with the bushes and plants that already lived there. What a treat it has been to have her there, holding-the-fort, so to speak, from August onward. The other day, when I realized I'd forgotten about her--catching a glimpse of her standing so confidently in the front garden as I walked by--I knew it was time to do another photo shoot with her. Here it is, late November, and she doesn't look a day over August, does she?


*Please note that all Foxgloves are poisonous so if you have pets or young children you will need to monitor so that no part of the plant gets eaten.

Today I am thankful for finding my camera so I can share part of my November garden with you.


Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble
Written by Jan @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/ Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

19 comments:

  1. Hi Jan. Your white Foxglove is so pretty. I love touches of white in the garden and this is a lovely one. I had one Foxglove that bloomed this fall also. I think it was just late getting started. I have pulled up a few plants in my gardening days also. I do it before I even think about a possible flower growing. Have a wonderful week!

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  2. So glad you found your lenses...I'm always putting things in 'safe places', and then forget where I put them. I'd be a perfect squirrel, I once read they forget where they put most of their nuts! :P I love your Foxy foxglove, such an elegant color, but I'm with you, why on earth is she blooming in November? If she was here, I think she would have been frosted to a crisp in the last week.

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  3. Hi,

    It's so wonderful to see a Foxglove flowering at this time of year, sometimes plants get their clocks a little wrong... Last year I had one flowering late into October - not quite November though!
    I must say though, sadly that plant didn't survive to this year, but others which flowered at their normal time in April/May/June have survived.

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  4. I am glad you found the lens...man that is rough when you misplace something. I would have turned the house upside down, in a frenzy!

    Love the spots on the throat of the Foxglove. Never have grown it, so I can't give a guess as to why it is blooming now.

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  5. Delightful post, Jan. Isn't it fun when flowers bloom out of their season? Surely a gift from heaven. So glad you found your lense!

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  6. Jan, I am so glad you found your camera~No need to replace one and we got to see your photos~gail

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  7. Glad you didn't pull it out thinking it was a weed(been there,done that).
    I have some in a pot started from seed this past spring(no flowers)....haven't looked at them in weeks.
    Yours sure do look like summer has returned...pretty.

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  8. Now THAT'S what I call a Foxy Lady. Are you old enough to remember Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady from the 1960's?

    Such an interesting story to go along with your always perfect photos. I agree, not a day over August. That made me laugh.

    donna

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  9. My foxgloves were blooming until last week. They really had their clock all mixed up. Your images are lovely and so are your blooms.

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  10. Dear Jan, I love foxgloves, too. Yours is adorable. I added them to my garden for the first time last year, having decided the grandchildren were old enough to understand they are poisonous. I had one blooming late, too, but a sharp frost last week put an end to it.
    Enjoy the holidays. Pam x

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  11. I'm glad you found your missing camera parts. I too, put things away for safe keeping only to realize I've forgotten just how safe they were, lol. Beautiful Foxy! You are not alone on having a lazy bone or two when it comes to gardening.

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  12. What an unexpected surprise for November to see a Foxglove. I looked out our bedroom window this morning and saw a cluster of blossoms on the Lady Banks Rose. I guess unusualness abounds right now.

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  13. Whew, I'm glad you found your camera stuff, Jan. Your Foxglove is a foxy one for sure.

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  14. I love those purple freckles on Foxy. I've had a foxglove bloom this time of year before. One of the Coast Azaleas and a couple Amsonia are blooming a little now.

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  15. I sometimes put things away in a safe place and it takes me ages to try and find them again. That's a great name for a foxglove. I saw one similar this year in our local garden centre but didn't have any room for it. I used to have quite pleasant surprises in bloom at this time of year when the weather was mild but not for the past 2 years.

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  16. wow, how lucky you are! I definitly don't have much blooming, but did have some new growth coming in after I started my fall clean-up!

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  17. Jan girl Foxy is gorgeous and that white really pops ! That is so funny how we put things away for safe keeping then totally forget where the heck did we put those things ! .. and with plants still in pots !! that is too funny .. I am always afraid of doing that because our winters would be too hard on most plants stuck in a pot .. and the bit about pulling "greenery" and not being exactly sure of what they are .. oops ! been there done that and try very hard not to do it again ? haha
    Hope you are well and stay that way to have a great holiday with your family : )
    Joy
    PS Thank you for seeing the leaf as SO Canadian eh ! LOL

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  18. She's a beauty, I really need to plant a few foxgloves in my garden again. :)

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  19. I'm jealous for two reasons. You can grow foxglove :-) I managed to grow them once, but they are not too happy in our Texas heat. Yours are so pretty! And I am so glad you found your camera lens, but I'm jealous about that, too. I lost my camera sometime last spring. I fear it is under the mulch .... somewhere in the county. I know that you had yet another reason to give "thanks for today" :-)

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Thanks so much for visiting and taking the time to comment! Please enjoy your TODAY and all of the gifts in YOUR garden of life!

Jan

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