Ah, November. The last hoorah of the growing season where so much that has been created and synthesized during the growing season is released. It is the month to enjoy some of the last of the warm season flowers and deciduous foliage before it all collapses with first frost. The JC Raulston Arboretum was ripe with both, and below you’ll find some of my favorite plants I learned about during my visits there for November.
Dahlia imperialis (also seen at the top of the page) was one of my favorite fall flowering perennials from the arboretum. The long cane-like stems would arch high in the sky as the lavender chandelier flowers hung down and attracted a plethora of bees.
Gladiolus dalenii ‘Halloweenie’ should be named ‘Thanksgivingie’ because it always seemed to flower later in the month of November. Mine have just recently started blooming in east Texas.
I was always delighted seeing cyclamen rise from the earth with their leaves that look like elven shields. Their flowers would uncoil and rise like this Cyclamen hederifolium Ashwood Nurseries Silver Leaf Group that is coming into bloom.
Chimonanthus nitens is a unique, evergreen flowering relative to Chimonanthus praecox. The finger-like white petals are translucent and not as fragrant as Chimonanthus praecox.
Orange is a common theme here with Abelia × grandiflora ‘Kaleidoscope’ and Nyssa ‘Dirr Selection’ playing off the flag’s color.
A close up of the persistent sepals on Abelia × grandiflora ‘Kaleidoscope’
I’ve shared my love of Salix ‘Flame’ before. November is the first month it really begins to shine now that the leaves have all dropped.
I so notice bark more in the winter time when the stems and trunks are revealed without their atmosphere of foliage. Stewartias are often known for their beautiful bark, and this Stewartia sinensis var. sinensis is no exception.
I love the clean foliage that emerges on Alstroemeria psittacina ‘Variegata’. Even if it never bloomed it would be worth growing.
Heuchera like this ‘Creme de Menthe’ thrive in the cooler months of the south when the ground is more moist and their foliage receives more sunlight to help intensify color.
Frost needles deposit on the spiny leaf of Solanum quitoense, and end this amazing architectural plant’s growth for the season.
Devoid of foliage, the fruit-filled verticillasters of Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Albifructus’ shine.
In New Trees John Grimshaw and Ross Bayton quote Andrew Bunting as saying that Lindera species provide some of the best fall color of any woody plants in the mid-Atlantic. I believed that to be true in Raleigh as well. The names are still a bit muddled. This one was listed as Lindera salicifolia, which is an invalid name, and I believe it should be Lindera glauca var. salicifolia.
A close up of Lindera glauca var. salicifolia
Lindera umbellata has a richer red and wider leaf.
Lindera angustifolia had this interesting curl to the leaves.
Another group of plants that provides spectacular fall color in the south are Japanese maples. Here Acer palmatum ‘Osakasuki’ creates a crimson carpet under the tree.
The serrated leaves of Acer palmatum ‘Pendulum Julian’ have such a warmth to them in November.
Acer palmatum ‘Linearilobum’ looks a bit psychedelic, no?
The foliage of Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Jelena’ turned a lovely burnt yellow in autumn. Notice all the full buds ready to burst.
Where do the red leaves of Cotinus ‘Grace’ end and the foliage of Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’ begin?
I love Fothergilla for the kaleidoscope of color the leaves produce. One plant can range through purple, red, orange, yellow, and green like this Fothergilla × intermedia ‘Mount Airy’ here.
And, all this colorful foliage must eventually fall. For some plants like Ginkgo biloba ‘Tschi Tschi’ we enjoy not only color on the tree but also the ground.