Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Poppy Was Right [or was she?] & November Catch Up


On my post of October 4th I asked help identifying a volunteer plant in our garden that had beautiful leaves. Poppy of Poppy View commented that the mystery leaves were lantana, just like the beautiful one in her garden. 


But did I have sense enough to believe my friend?

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't for the simple reason that the pot of lantana we had on our kitchen porch looked nothing like this plant, its leaves much shorter.

But Poppy, I think you were right even though the blooms look nothing like our other lantana. 

Maybe because the two flower buds the plant put on in late October were stunted with frost? I cut the two buds and brought them inside and eventually they opened up to these blooms.

But one bloom--the first picture above-was white, not like the purple bloom, below, that is my favorite color of all.


Is that usual for a lantana? To have two colors on one volunteer lantana?

RH remembers two summers ago planting a purple lantana there. Did a seed lie dormant for two years and gift us with this beautiful plant in late autumn? 

Speaking of purple, here's the Goodwill hand towel I hung next to the vase of mystery flower.


 Why am I showing you a humble little $1.99 Goodwill hand towel? Because I'm wondering if any thrifters reading this ever lose their heart to such an inexpensive old towel in a thrift store?

I mean, I was as happy with that purchase as people are buying a brand new car. Anyone else out there understand? RH loves taking me to Goodwill because he says I'm such a cheap date, happy with an old purple towel. 

There's always room for more linens so I buy them instead of tsotchkes that I don't have room for.



 There's another thing sitting by the vase in the bathroom that also makes me very happy.

That cute little candle from Milkhouse Candles in their Sweet Tobacco Leaves scent! 

Karen of Over the Backyard Fence passed this candle company on to her readers and I'm doing it here because I love these candles so much--no they did not ask me to do this. I've lit three of their autumn scents for two months now and have three Christmas scents waiting for post-Thanksgiving, wonderful fragrances and they're soy-beeswax candles.

Here's their website!

Now for more November catch up pictures that should have been posted after our first freeze of the season. I am such a laggard.



 Did you go out in the garden gleaning all you could when the first freeze was predicted? Isn't it funny how we treasure those late autumn blooms? 

And did you notice those dill flowers hanging over the zinnias above?



I went crazy cutting dill before our first freeze.



I had big vases of it in our living room and bouquets of it in the kitchen. I faithfully changed the water every other day and snipped dill into everything but ice cream for a week. The house smelled wonderful!



And then the beautiful stalks just wilted and drooped and I reluctantly threw them out. 

I always seem to want to hold on to a little bit of the past season when it's time to move on to the next.



Our dusting of snow was on the pumpkins in the garden, and I've already begun decorating for Christmas, and yet I'm just not ready for all the pumpkins to be broken up and thrown out for the deer, possums, racoons, fox family and our one skunk who only has a white topknot, not a stripe down his or her back. 

Garden pumpkins are still there...



 But all the small white pumpkins in the house have been gathered up and saved for a Thanksgiving table. (The bat in the kitchen went back to his cave after Halloween.)





But at least I'll be willing to let the wildlife have all the pumpkins after Thanksgiving. There was a year at Valley View, our last Christmas there, that I was so in love with our orange pumpkins...



that I incorporated them into a pink, purple and orange Christmas theme in the kitchen. 



It was only on New Year's Eve that I was ready to tell my orange pumpkins goodbye and move to a crisp clean look for January.



Okay, time to fess up...have any of you begun decorating for Christmas? Maybe even finished?

Are the pumpkins still on your porch or does a Christmas wreath already hang on the door?

Or like me, is there a little of both?

Are any of you US readers knee deep in cooking Thanksgiving Day dinner?

Or have you chucked the whole thing and headed to Bora Bora like some people I know? 

Thrifters out there, what item do you most flip out over when discovered in thrift stores?

And Poppy dear, are you still convinced that this plant is a lantana? Because I'll feel really stupid if I proclaim it's a lantana and then someone else says "No way!" I promise to believe you this time.

Later: The mystery is solved! See Gretchen's comment below!

 



21 comments:

  1. I smiled reading about you being a cheap date, happy over a new hand towel. My husband would tease me about being easy to make happy when I found a tin with a teddy bear on it for 25 cents, many, many years ago. I love finding crocheted bedspreads, etc. ;-)

    I've decorated a little for Christmas, plan to get started for real after Thanksgiving.

    Have a wonderful holiday season ~ Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dewena, I have a blog friend who has a Lantana bush at her home, and it has the most beautiful color. Yes, I know what you mean about shopping at Goodwill, or any place really, and coming across that special item that you just have to take home. It's mostly the porcelain figurines for me. Your orange pumpkins look charming sitting next to your rooster. I can see why you don't want to give them up quite yet. You have a skunk around your neck of the woods? That must be a sight for you. The candle with the tobacco scent sounds interesting.

    I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving filled with lots of love and lots of good foods, Dewena. I am thankful for having a blog friend like you. : )

    ~Sheri

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh yes, I get being as happy with little treasure purchases as people are buying a brand new car. Haha about RH enjoying taking you to Goodwill because you're such a cheap date. A pretty purple towel.

    Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving -- we celebrated ours back in October. I could eat turkey and stuffing again, but it will have to wait now until Christmas.

    Not much Christmas decorating yet, but I do have some twinkle lights up and two tiny glittery trees are sitting on the coffee table, found them at a local church bazaar for a dollar each.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know anything about plants, but I do know quite a bit about losing my heart to $1 items at the thrift stores. I have no willpower at all!! Ha!! Happy Thanksgiving my friend!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dewena, you are my Gladys Taber. You get such joy out of natural things like pumpkins and dill.
    And thrifted towels. I also do not care of the price tag on something. I like a little treasure from the antique or thrift store just as much as any higher priced items. Maybe even better. In my effor to downsize I’m trying not to visit too many stores lest I be tempted. I’ve got an early start on Christmas since I’m all decorated (except outside) and most of my presents are bought and wrapped. I will take them with me this weekend to Chris and won’t have to worry about sending them through the mail. (Is it just me or has the cost of mailing unreasonable?) Have a great Thanksgiving with all your kids. And be sure to take some pics of the grands to post. I love seeing them grow up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL you are a cheap date!!!! I love the Goodwill and what fun treasures you can find in there. I want to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving with Bree Bree too and little James Mason. Enjoy your family this week.
    Hugs,
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh I am like you. I like going to Goodwill. My treasure hunt are cute little dishes, bowls, tea cups or mugs.
    Thank you for the candle company. I am going to check them out.
    Happy Thanksgiving,
    Carla

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dewena that is not a lantana, but a Butterfly Bush!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddleja_davidii

    I had one of my own for a couple of years, but I removed it. It was an eyesore in that spot, but I think they are generally very useful, drought-tolerant plants that bloom over a long period. I also recognized the plant in my son's garden and the next time I went Liam and I pruned it hard. They need cutting back to within a foot or so of the ground in the winter; otherwise they get very leggy and messy.

    I love all the flowers and dill and pumpkins spilling over in their harvest color, all over your place. Especially the zinnias!

    I'm not having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year, for the first time I can remember. I'll tell on my blog, probably what I'm doing. But it's easier than the usual, and will be lovely.

    Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Dewena!

    XO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen, you must be right! And we feel so foolish! Because we have a large purple butterfly bush right across from it, about 12 feet away. Never thought to compare it with it.

      RH just went out in the garden and cut a leaf off both. Even though the leaves on the huge bush have already been badly burned by our first freezes and the small one is still a gorgeous green, they look the same.

      The answer was right under our nose and we didn't see it! Thank you!

      Delete
    2. I've noticed a lot of the purple butterfly bushes in my neighborhood, and I like them much better than the white. The blooms on my white one turned brown so fast - and that particular bush seemed too big for its spot. The landscaper said it was supposed to be a dwarf form... The purple ones seemed to be more airy in their form, and when the blooms began to fade, the contrast of purple and brown wasn't so eye-catching.

      But I replaced my bush with two wallflowers, which were more to the scale of my little front yard. One of them already died!

      Delete
  9. I do like little treasures - they please me just as much as others more expensive, maybe more. I hope your plant is a Lantana, but I don't know at all. Have a wonderful US Thanksgiving!

    Oh, I also go out into the garden and collect the last of the blooms before things freeze up. It's very chilly here right now and I just look at my garden through the window.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love Goodwill, and that cute towel. Don't know much about plants.
    Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, Dewena, the leaves look exactly like our lantana, but the cone shape of the flower doesn't, although each individual, minuscule flower does! So, still a mystery, I guess, and thus, I cannot take credit according to the leaves only! Whatever it is, I'm glad the lavender hued petals made you smile!

    Of course I can relate to the total bliss you felt purchasing your pretty, purple, $1.99 hand towel! I know that feeling of pure elation, as if nobody saw it, or it was just put out on the shelves, or it was hidden because it was meant for ME!;))

    The candle sounds heavenly. I had bought way too many Ikea, Christmas scented tea lights

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poppy, your comment was published before Gretchen's above because hers is one of the few that I have to hunt for on my stats page to publish, but when I read yours first I thought "oh no, we still don't know what it is!"

      But Gretchen solved it for us!

      More later, must get my day under way first!

      Delete
  12. Oops! Pressed publish, by mistake! Can't remember, where I left off...Oh yes, 'Christmas' scented tea lights from Ikea, and I intend to indulge in them this holiday season.

    I remember that particular Christmas past with your collection of pumpkins - I loved it!!

    And speaking of Christmas, (only speaking, since I never decorate before December!), this year, I intend on keeping things simple and natural, which means lots of fresh greenery, my favourite crowd of Santas and snowmen and playing around with the Welsh dresser/credenza; I decorate it differently every year.

    I really enjoyed all your fabulous floral displays, Dewena, they made me smile.

    Love,
    Poppy

    ReplyDelete
  13. My house is a mix of Christmas and autumn at the moment....I'm slowly making my way to all Christmas! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Dewena!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dewena, I love this post. I am reluctant to disagree with Poppy. However, I do not think your plant is Lantana. It looks like a Butterfly Bush (common name) or Buddleia. When we lived in VA. I had a purple one and also a white one. The purple can spring up wild and some folks think they are invasive. I guess they could, depending on where they appear. As far as thrift stores, I do love to visit them. Always on the look-out for a good vase or pretty tea cup and saucer.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I was thinking this could be the ugly duckling of lantanas, daring to be different, but now it is not a lantana at all.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  16. Butterfly Bush - yes! We had two of them in our butterfly garden and sadly, both of them have died over the years. I think they didn't get enough sun.

    I just now today took down my fall decorations. Not in the mood to bring up the boxes of Christmas stuff and start decorating. Maybe I'll have Brian lug up the boxes tomorrow on his day off. It's going to be super minimal this year.

    I had put my pumpkins outside for the squirrels a couple of weeks ago - they loved them!

    ReplyDelete
  17. So often, it's the little inexpensive items that can mean so much.

    I've written the Christmas Cards, bought a few presents and the decorations will be out this coming weekend :)

    Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  18. such a pleasure to read and see all your beautiful photos. I had lantana for years - but seen nothing like what you have posted. and yes I have had favorite thrift store items that i was so happy to get.

    ReplyDelete