hello, november

I wrote about the extended summer delight in early October but the second half of the month brought us fog, mist, low clouds, and light rain starting around October 20th.  It has been raining on and off got the last several days. And October is not even the rainiest month in this area. That would be, yes, November is the month with the most rain, with an average of 16 wet days. So it's boots and umbrellas for many more days.

The rain should make the ground easier to dig as I need to replant a couple of maple trees, a crab apple, and one lilac bush. The Fat Albert Colorado Blue Spruce in a pot will  be our holiday tree for one more year. It will get planted in the ground in early spring, as well as two Hollywood Junipers. I also expect to get a Victoria European Plum (originally found in Sussex in 1840) in spring.  Apparently, this is England's most widely planted plum; it is self fertile, freestone and prized for canning and jam. Together with the Victoria, I will have a Prune D'Ente 707 European Plum, a French 'Agen' prune plum reportedly highly prized in France for its large, very sweet fruit with violet-red skin and yellow flesh. Both plum trees are expected to ripen between August and September. I can't wait to have all these trees in the ground!

These rainy days did give me an excuse to pour over the seed catalogs, and plan the flower and vegetable planting for next year.  This is something that I enjoy doing every year. Every gardening year is an opportunity to start fresh, a chance to do over. There is no time for regrets. Or for finding faults. There is only time to begin again and to stay amaze.  

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