November Days
The Busy November: A Month of Plant Sales, Garden Talks, and Fall Tweaks
Embracing the Hectic Beauty of November
If I had to pick the busiest month of the year, it would be November.
Kids’ school activities, plant sales, and speaking engagements fill our lives. It is a lot of WORK helping people update their outdoor spaces. But, is also a time where my garden is reveling in the cooler temperatures of fall and I start to make some tweaks to it. I love the quote, “A garden is never finished”. That is certainly true of mine. Hence the little green flags indicating new plants that need irrigation run to them.
Plant Sales and Community Support
Earlier this month, I was a special guest expert at a local plant sales that raises money for community services. I enjoyed coming up with creative combinations for those who were shopping and answering their questions about the best exposure for the different plants offered for sale.
Inspiring Gardeners with Creative Container Gardening
A few days later, it was all about creative container gardening as I spoke to a group of interested gardeners at a local branch of the Phoenix Public Library. While I like to talk about gardening to groups, there is always a little fear before it begins when you stare at a sea of empty seats and pray that they will be at least half filled by the time it starts. I must say that I was thrilled when they had to bring in extra chairs for my talk. Yeah!
The Delight of Fall in the Garden
Fall is my favorite time of year in the garden when the summer bloomers are still producing colorful flowers and my cool-season plants are beginning to show off as well.
You know what else I like about November? It means that Christmas is just around corner! I wonder how early I can get away with putting up Christmas decorations?
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Hello and thank you for sharing all of your ideas and expertise about the beautiful AZ plants. I truly enjoy reading your blog posts and seeing all your beautiful photos.
I am a snowbird transplant from Upstate New York. I enjoy reading all your posts and learnings about the beautiful Arizona desert landscaping. My husband and I recently purchased a new build home and have been researching plants that bloom in the spring and fall here.
I love sitting on the patio watching the hummingbirds and butterflies gather around me. This brings me a lot of peace, happiness and joy.
I am currently living in the West Valley and was wondering if you have any speaking events coming up.
P.S. I also have an an obsession with flowers, plants, and trees.
Warmly,
Brenda Teeter
Hi Brenda,
Thank you for your kinds words. I do have a few speaking engagements coming up. I am teaching two classes at the Desert Botanical Garden – one is February 24th 2-3 pm and the subject is “Fuss Free Gardens”. The second is on May 14th, 6:30-8:30 pm and I’ll talk about “Hummingbird Container Gardens”. You can go to their website http://www.dbg.org and sign up for the first class now. I’m not sure when they will have sign-ups available for the next one yet. I hope you can come!