I moved about 15 years ago to a country in North Europ, categorised as subartic region when we want to understand what kind of plants are growing here. Living there on a peninsula, we often encounter strong and cold wind as well.
Just to say that it is just challenging to grow plants and vegetables, I am not complaining, rather describing, the landscape is magnificent and this is such a privilege to live in the countryside. Palm trees would not fit that well in this landscape anyway. :)
This was very nice to read about your sunflower and its height as we don't have any big and tall flowers where I live. Even the trees do not want to grow too tall ; too risky with this wind. Nature works well and the plants that develop here are the ones that can handle the climate and terrain. We have so many perennials and it is so nice to forage arctic thyme and wild blueberries. The vegetation does not look luxuriant around us, there is nothing exuberant but when you look up-closed, when you stop, sit and look what is around you, you see so many types of flowers, herbs, moss … It is very green in the Summer.
Now it is October and even though we still have beautiful sunny days and still good long daylight, the plants have switched to their dormant stage, ready for Winter. But inside, in our home, a plant is blooming. This is a November cactus. I am so happy it is blooming again and it is even a bit in advance (compared to its name) … The 2-3 previous years, it has been blooming three times during the Winter, so basically from October to March. How lucky we are!
It is not a big plant but the flowers are huge in comparison. And I really enjoy seeing the small buds all over the plant, so small, growing slowly and becoming beautiful flowers.
The flower of the November cactus, Schlumbergera is its botanical name, is so complex, many petals and the pistil goes well out. The flowers make me think of the colibri. This is very pleasant to have this single plant bringing colours in the house when the Nature outside is now turning to beige-brownish winter tones. As we have this November cactus since 3 years, it is becoming a reference for me and marks the beginning of the Winter. The flowers stay for a very long time and as it blooms several times, it is also marking the end of the Winter when blooming in March til April.
Schlumbergera can be November cactus, that you would call Thanksgiving cactus in the USA, Christmas cactus or Easter cactus, and it looks like ours wants to be all of them by blooming 3 times) :)
As I started putting my gardening tools back in the shed, this is so nice to have several plants inside to be enjoyed all year around and especially when they bloom in the darkest months of the year.
Thank you for sharing about your sunflower, I hope you’ll plant again flowers in your garden, this is so rewarding when we see the plants growing and blooming. We can all learn, try and “get green fingers”. I had green fingers in my country, now I am starting over in this new country as this is completely different and I do hope I will become “a green fingers gardener” here at some point. :) Wish you all the same and lots of enjoyment in your garden and in Nature.
Thank you for the messages you send in your stories. This especially really talked to me : “It grows with the reckless abandon of a flower that wants to live and bloom to the fullest expression of who it is. It does not hold back. It is not staying small, just in case."
Thank you for sharing your experience with your sunflower. It made me look at my own sunflowers. I have been neglecting my garden harder than usual this growing season and yet… and yet, it grows and provides a surprisingly abundant bounty. It’s easy to focus on the weeds, the pests, the perpetually underwatered plants, but within the mess, there is so much beauty, so much life. My messy, neglected garden is filled to the brim with happy pollinators and songbirds. I seem to startle a northern alligator lizard every few days, or a frog. Dragonflies hover and the butterflies flutter about. Hawks soar overhead. The slugs are abundant, sure, but so are the bees. The good is there, you just have to take a moment to really see it.
PS. I’m a firm believer that ANYONE can garden. Maybe not everyone can have a huge, perfect English cottage garden or an urban farm, but anyone can grow a bit of something. Whether it's a few pots of herbs on a balcony or a single sunflower grown in a raised bed with some squash. My friend has an tower of lettuce in their elementary school classroom with some grow lights. It’s all a learning process with trials to be expected to see what will grow within the space they have, but it’s possible. I don’t think any gardener has 100% success all the time. I think most serious gardeners have their own “white whale” whether it’s the perfect tomato, a juicy watermelon, a bountiful cherry tree free of disease, that they will likely never reach. Everyone struggles with something, but we tend to only share the highlight reel. I’ve harvested huge colanders full of beautiful tomatoes, but I also have come across ones that split in the rain or have bites taken out from the squirrels and mice. I still consider them a success. I’m glad you found success with a sunflower. I hope you try again. <3
thank you for sharing
You are so welcome Marc, thanks for reading!
Hihi,
Here is a story about a November cactus :)
I moved about 15 years ago to a country in North Europ, categorised as subartic region when we want to understand what kind of plants are growing here. Living there on a peninsula, we often encounter strong and cold wind as well.
Just to say that it is just challenging to grow plants and vegetables, I am not complaining, rather describing, the landscape is magnificent and this is such a privilege to live in the countryside. Palm trees would not fit that well in this landscape anyway. :)
This was very nice to read about your sunflower and its height as we don't have any big and tall flowers where I live. Even the trees do not want to grow too tall ; too risky with this wind. Nature works well and the plants that develop here are the ones that can handle the climate and terrain. We have so many perennials and it is so nice to forage arctic thyme and wild blueberries. The vegetation does not look luxuriant around us, there is nothing exuberant but when you look up-closed, when you stop, sit and look what is around you, you see so many types of flowers, herbs, moss … It is very green in the Summer.
Now it is October and even though we still have beautiful sunny days and still good long daylight, the plants have switched to their dormant stage, ready for Winter. But inside, in our home, a plant is blooming. This is a November cactus. I am so happy it is blooming again and it is even a bit in advance (compared to its name) … The 2-3 previous years, it has been blooming three times during the Winter, so basically from October to March. How lucky we are!
It is not a big plant but the flowers are huge in comparison. And I really enjoy seeing the small buds all over the plant, so small, growing slowly and becoming beautiful flowers.
The flower of the November cactus, Schlumbergera is its botanical name, is so complex, many petals and the pistil goes well out. The flowers make me think of the colibri. This is very pleasant to have this single plant bringing colours in the house when the Nature outside is now turning to beige-brownish winter tones. As we have this November cactus since 3 years, it is becoming a reference for me and marks the beginning of the Winter. The flowers stay for a very long time and as it blooms several times, it is also marking the end of the Winter when blooming in March til April.
Schlumbergera can be November cactus, that you would call Thanksgiving cactus in the USA, Christmas cactus or Easter cactus, and it looks like ours wants to be all of them by blooming 3 times) :)
As I started putting my gardening tools back in the shed, this is so nice to have several plants inside to be enjoyed all year around and especially when they bloom in the darkest months of the year.
Thank you for sharing about your sunflower, I hope you’ll plant again flowers in your garden, this is so rewarding when we see the plants growing and blooming. We can all learn, try and “get green fingers”. I had green fingers in my country, now I am starting over in this new country as this is completely different and I do hope I will become “a green fingers gardener” here at some point. :) Wish you all the same and lots of enjoyment in your garden and in Nature.
Thank you for the messages you send in your stories. This especially really talked to me : “It grows with the reckless abandon of a flower that wants to live and bloom to the fullest expression of who it is. It does not hold back. It is not staying small, just in case."
Kind regards,
Thank you for sharing your experience with your sunflower. It made me look at my own sunflowers. I have been neglecting my garden harder than usual this growing season and yet… and yet, it grows and provides a surprisingly abundant bounty. It’s easy to focus on the weeds, the pests, the perpetually underwatered plants, but within the mess, there is so much beauty, so much life. My messy, neglected garden is filled to the brim with happy pollinators and songbirds. I seem to startle a northern alligator lizard every few days, or a frog. Dragonflies hover and the butterflies flutter about. Hawks soar overhead. The slugs are abundant, sure, but so are the bees. The good is there, you just have to take a moment to really see it.
PS. I’m a firm believer that ANYONE can garden. Maybe not everyone can have a huge, perfect English cottage garden or an urban farm, but anyone can grow a bit of something. Whether it's a few pots of herbs on a balcony or a single sunflower grown in a raised bed with some squash. My friend has an tower of lettuce in their elementary school classroom with some grow lights. It’s all a learning process with trials to be expected to see what will grow within the space they have, but it’s possible. I don’t think any gardener has 100% success all the time. I think most serious gardeners have their own “white whale” whether it’s the perfect tomato, a juicy watermelon, a bountiful cherry tree free of disease, that they will likely never reach. Everyone struggles with something, but we tend to only share the highlight reel. I’ve harvested huge colanders full of beautiful tomatoes, but I also have come across ones that split in the rain or have bites taken out from the squirrels and mice. I still consider them a success. I’m glad you found success with a sunflower. I hope you try again. <3