Bloom Day - November 2025 (Early Edition)

I got an early start on my November Bloom Day selections.  My post is in keeping with my Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule but I also had my annual appointment with the tree service on the calendar for Thursday so I couldn't do any work in my garden.  On the heels of that, an atmospheric river (i.e., a monumental rainstorm) was slated to roll in late Thursday night and continue through the weekend so an early post made sense on multiple levels.  (We could get nearly four inches of rain, which is incredible by our standards!)

Coastal Southern California doesn't get as cold as many parts of the Northern Hemisphere.  Frosts are virtually unknown and we never get snow.  So, while my garden isn't at its most floriferous, I expect it still looks heavier on flowers than many others are used to at this time of year.  I'll start with this month's stars.

Blue flowers are welcome any time but especially at this time of year.  These are Barleria obtusa, commonly called bush violets.

I have several clumps of the bush violets both in the back and front garden areas.  My original plant came from a fall sale at my local botanic garden, which no longer offers the fall and spring sales of plants propagated from species grown there.  I've never seen the plants in local garden centers, which is a shame as they grow well here.

Senna bicapsularis, planted in 2011, also puts on a show at this time of year.  It's the host plant for cloudless sulphur butterflies.

I inherited 3 well-established Camellia sasanquas with the garden.  I wasn't provided with the names for either of the 2 cultivars but, after a deep dive down a botanic rabbit hole last year, I decided this one might be 'October Magic Rose'.

The 2 shorter Camellia sasanqua shrubs might be 'Early Wonder'.  Their color is similar to the taller variety but the form of the flowers is different.

On a whim, I bought a Chrysanthemum 'Fairbanks Purple Spoon' at my local garden center a few weeks ago to fill a container that needed refreshing.  It was prettier than the usual runty varieties we see here in the lead up to our Thanksgiving holiday.

Protea 'Claire' has bloomed for the second year in a row.  Her cousin, 'Pink Ice', has yet to produce a single bud.

Just one of my Yucca 'Bright Star' produced a bloom stalk this year

Some plants bloom off and on throughout the year.  Those that have recently mounted a return include the following:

Both the Argyranthemum 'Everest' and Osteospermums ('4D Silver' and 'Violet Ice', shown on the right) are short-lived perennials here

Felicia aethiopica have sprung back since a hard pruning 

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' prefers the garden's cooler season.  It usually produces a light flush of flowers in the fall, saving its heavier flush for spring.

In another category, there are what I refer to as my "old dependables" that bloom either all year or for a significant portion of it:

Correa 'Ivory Bells' peaked this month while Correa 'Pink Eyre' is just getting started

Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' is going strong, while orange flowered 'Vermillionaire' (not shown) is just getting around to bouncing back after a pruning

Grevilleas 'Peaches & Cream' (left) and 'Superb' (right) are 2 of my year-round bloomers, although 'Superb' is the more prolific of the 2

Lavandula multifida is in full bloom except for a short time after I chop it back twice a year

The colorful bracts of many Leucadendrons resemble flowers.  From left to right are 'Blush', 'Summer Red', and 'Safari Sunset'.

The ivy geraniums, Pelargonium peltatum, are a joy.  Clockwise from the upper left are 'Dark Burgundy', 'Lavender Blizzard', and a buoyant unnamed red variety

As usual, several plants took me by surprise:

Aloe lukeana is blooming for the second time this year

I planted 5 Amarine 'Belladiva Emanuelle' bulbs in 2021.  Only one has made a showing this year (so far).  It's a cross of a Nerine and an Amaryllis belladonna.

This Dahlia made a late appearance this month and is currently sporting 2 more buds.  The tuber was purchased as 'Caproz Pizzazz', which it is not.  My guess is it could be 'Ferncliff Illusion'. 

Hemerocallis 'For Pete's Sake' decided to offer another bloom stalk.  At least one other daylily is also sporting a fall bloom stalk (but no open flowers yet).

I cleared my cutting garden in October and prepped it for cool-season bulbs and annuals.  There isn't much to see there yet, although the Anemone coronaria corms are already producing foliage.  There are also plugs of various annuals in place.

I've planted nearly 2 dozen snapdragon plugs (Antirrhinum majus), only 3 of which are a named variety ('Double Azalea Bronze')

I also installed half a dozen stock plugs (Matthiola incana)

Photos of the best of the rest of the flowers have been assembled into color-coded collages:

Clockwise from the upper left: Duranta repens 'Sapphire Skies', Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense', Tulbaghia violacea, Evolvulus 'Beach Bum Blue', Hebe 'Grace Kelly', Polygala myrtifolia, and Vitex trifolia

From the upper left: noID Dianthus, Dietes grandiflora, Eustoma grandiflorum, Fuchsia 'Windchimes White', and Gazania 'White Flame'

From the upper left: Cosmos bipinnatus, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Pentas lanceolata, noID Dianthus, noID Gazania, Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Coral', and Lantana 'Irene'

From the upper left: Argyranthemum 'Yellow Beauty', Chrysocephalum 'Desert Flame', Euryops 'Sonnenschein', Gaillardia 'Spintop Copper Sun', Faucaria tuberculosa, Rudbeckia 'Juliana', Tagetes lemmonii, and Lantana 'Lucky Yellow' 

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, check in with Carol at May Dreams Gardens on November 15th.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party