Garden Bloggers Bloom Day~November 2015~ Central Florida

November, and yesterday was the first day it didn't feel like summer in Central Florida.  We had a lovely taste of autumnal weather, but it's going to be a short reprieve.  The forecast for next week is the mid to upper eighties, and dry.  There are plenty of blooms, but not the camellias that I thought I would be sharing in November.  My Sasanqua Camellias, which started blooming late September, have nearly bloomed themselves out.  Our hotter than normal temperatures accelerated, and deteriorated the blossoms.  But, I do have roses...

Like red velvet, Don Juan.

Autumn Sunset

Gene Boerner

Red Cascade

Intrigue

Some folks don't think of Knockouts, as 'real' roses, and that's fine.  Instead of comparing them to roses, think of them as a shrub.  Many of us in the South grow azaleas, and they only bloom a few weeks in the spring, if a late frost doesn't lay waste to the blooms.  How much better, a shrub that blooms ten months of the year?  My Knockouts...

On to something completely different, Turks Cap.

They show up like a bunch of  little lipsticks, standing straight up.

After a few days, they begin to nod, hence one of their common names, 'nodding hibiscus'.

Around the gazebo, Gloriosa Lilies are still blooming.

Tibouchina, too.

Aloes are still blooming also, but the hummingbirds that visit them during summer have left us.  The little bird you see on the plant, I believe, is a Palm Warbler.  They're winter residents of Florida, but the interesting thing is that he drinks the aloe nectar just like the hummers.  I couldn't catch him in the act, but he got his fill...

Black Eyed Susan Vine on the front fence.

This ginger is new to me this year, I only know it's a 'spiral ginger', so called because of it's leaf placement.  I don't know the variety, and haven't seen it in bloom...

...I soon will though.

Until next time...happy gardening.