We are in mid-November and have not experienced a frost yet, though the weather has gotten cold and wet. Many leaves have dropped and some tender annuals have turned to mush. But other plants are toughing it out and some continue to bloom despite the gloom.

My bulb order landed from John Scheepers this week. I divided them up to share with friends/family. The rest I planted myself, including tulips, lilies, narcissus, scilla, camas, and corydalis. I planted some reticulated iris, scilla, and narcissus in pots to force in the winter if the cold and rats do not get them. There are some alliums, tulips, and narcissus that I will plant in large pots tomorrow. It always seems like a huge number of bulbs and a big job to plant them, but when you bunch them together in groups of seven, which I do, they do not take long to plant and they do not cover the amount of ground you might think! It was easy digging in the moist soil today and tomorrow’s rain will welcome them into prodigious root growth in their new home. Looking forward to the first iris pot being forced in January and hundreds of beautiful blooms following through August when I expect the lilies will bloom.