GRAPEVINE November, Neelakurinji, Greenhouse One, Greenhouse Two, Medlar, Edison Gardens, Victory Gardens, Rock Gardens, Gymnosperms, Leaves One, Leaves Two, Variegation, Hummelo Closing

Basket of Medlars. Photo jorgen.mi, Wikimedia Commons

Neelakurinji, Strobilanthes kunthiana, Anamudi Shola National Park, Kerala, India. Photo Vinayaraj, Wikimedia Commons.

The only difference between an extraordinary life and an ordinary one is the extraordinary pleasures you find in ordinary things. – Véronique Vienne

– November
If November begins in autumn it ends unambiguously in winter. The days become shockingly short and the chances of frost – or worse – are real enough to make the business of protecting and tidying the garden urgent, so it is a busy month, especially as bad weather can bring work to a juddering halt for days or even weeks at a time.
Monty Don

– One of India’s best-kept secrets
One of the rarest flowers in the world, the Neelakurinji blooms just once every 12 years in India’s south-western state of Kerala.
BBC Reel; video, 1:43 mins.

– Experimental mini-greenhouse plays host to urban plants & bees
Located in the middle of a busy, “exposed and harsh” intersection in Copenhagen, right beside a three-lane road and a train station, it’s not exactly the most hospitable place for greenery to grow. However, that is the point of this three-year experiment, which will see this ecosystem hopefully thrive without any human interference whatsoever.
Treehugger

– Growing the World’s Food in Greenhouses
For this project, Mattson’s team studies the use of LED lights. LEDs are significantly more energy efficient than legacy lights and also have more control capabilities—such as adjusting light intensity and spectrum—whereas legacy lights can only be turned on and off.
Cornell Research

– Mespilus germanica
If, like me, you are a fan of the word “bletting”, then medlar is the fruit for you.
UBC Botanical Garden

– The Garden History of Thomas Edison
He used soil from the adjacent Caloosahatchee River to enrich his fourteen acres, and one of the reasons he originally bought the property was that it was already established with bamboo. Carbonized bamboo was one of the first lightbulb filaments, lasting over 1200 hours before burning out.
Garden History Girl

– Gardening for the Common Good
Victory gardens (originally called war gardens or liberty gardens) made their first appearance during World War I (1914–1918). President Woodrow Wilson called on Americans to plant vegetable gardens to ward off the possible threat of food shortages. Americans took up the challenge as a civic and patriotic duty.
Smithsonian; Cultivating America’s Gardens

– It’s about the plants, honey!
People pooh pooh crevice gardens as stark, and rock gardens as artificial in urban settings. But if you want to grow treasures like these, this is the way to do it.
Prairiebreak

– Gymnosperms and Fleshy “Fruits”
Many of us were taught in school that one of the key distinguishing features between gymnosperms and angiosperms is the production of fruit.
In Defense of Plants

– Moving On To Fallen
A whole bunch of leaves fell in the last wind and rain. More of that is incoming for Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday it could be all over. The mountains are already naked up top and I see a possibility of the first snow for the weekend.
Outside Clyde

– Last Load?
A basic requirement for a woodland garden is a thick cover of rotting hardwood leaves.
Plants and Stones

– Working with Variegated Plants
Spots, splashes, streaks, and margin markings: These and other sorts of variegation add an extra element of interest to lovely leaves. The visual effect can range from subtle to gaudy, and from elegant to somewhat sickly, depending on the pattern, intensity, and colors.
Hayefield

– Closing Time: Goodbye to Hummelo
After nearly 40 years of welcoming the world through its gates, the private garden of Piet and Anja Oudolf at Hummelo will close to the public for good at the end of this month.
The New Perennialist

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy. – Luis Barragan

Segment of Piet Oudolf’s planting design for Hauser & Wirth Somerset garden. Photo John Lord, Wikimedia Commons.

Dahlia ‘Thomas Edison’. Photo Mark Twyning, Wikimedia Commons.