November is for enjoying every possible minute in the garden. It’s lovely to rush out every morning and see what has happened overnight - even in a dry spring there’s always something.
This morning I found the first unfurling bud on a little species gladdie I planted last autumn, G. byzantinus from Turkey.
It has crimson-magenta, orchid-like flowers at knee height and looks brilliant among the large velvety grey leaves of another Turkish beauty, non-flowering Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina).
Both these plants are happy in shallow stony soil, just the thing for dry corners out of reach of a tap.
No-one could claim a graceful shape for a native mint bush: its October beauty depends on the mass of flowers that completely envelop the entire shrub.
No gardener, though, lasts long without embarking on a few essential jobs, so after pulling out some barley grass and deadheading rose ‘Remember Me’, I decided to plant last summer’s cuttings of my ‘Wish’ salvias, praying we won’t have a late frost.
Crimson ‘Wendy’s Wish’, purple ‘Love and Wishes’ and coral ‘Amber’s Wish’ are gorgeous but irrefutably tender. Highland and inland gardeners can overcome this by taking semi-ripe summer cuttings which root easily, and am I glad I did, when I saw the price of new plants no bigger than mine in a nursery ($12.95).
I went home feeling incredibly smug. Having planted the salvias, I thought about dividing some overcrowded irises but finally decided not. November is normally a good time to split old clumps that have been left for several years but it’s not a good idea in a drought.
The newly detached lengths of root (aka rhizomes) which you pull off a piece that has already flowered, will struggle to establish and need constant watering. Better to wait till March. Instead I pruned some October flowering May bushes (Spiraea).
The only reason for pruning May is to stop it getting too big, as most species are well shaped, growing gracefully up and out and never becoming bare and leggy.
If you want to restrain one, crawl into the middle of the shrub clutching your secateurs and remove the biggest, oldest branches from the base. This way the plant will retain its graceful shape and won’t sprout into a startled echidna.
No-one could claim a graceful shape for a native mint bush (Prostanthera): its October beauty depends on the mass of flowers that completely envelop the entire shrub.
But if you reduce its branches by about a third, you’ll build a strong frame for next year’s blossom.
Early flowering lavenders can be pruned now as flowers fade. Take care not to go below leaf level: lavender won’t recover from bare wood.
Tip cuttings of lavender taken now should make nice plants by autumn. November is the best month for striking early flowering lavenders. Evergreen box (Buxus) and honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida) hedges can be clipped in November and the box, at least, should stay shapely for another year.
Unfortunately I can’t say this for the honeysuckle. Great for quick effect, you’ll have a dense hedge in two seasons, but the price you pay is non-stop pruning.
Do it now: take Beauty Bush (Kolkwitzia) cuttings.
