Yesterday my friend and I were chatting about what an odd Autumn we’re having in Seattle. I had just come home from walking my dog. As I made my way through sidewalks filled with leaves, I witnessed tomatoes still ripening on a vine. Usually by now tomatoes are long past doing anything but rotting. Really, its just plain warm this fall. Sure 50F may not sound very warm, but it is enough to keep plants kicking longer than usual. Among other things, annual Heliotrope and even impatiens continue to plug along in my garden.
In late September I noticed my potted Angel’s trumpet (Brugsmania) was setting flowers. The plant is in a large pot on my west facing, protected front porch, which has served as my over-wintering location for many plants in past years. This plant was a speaker’s gift I received in early spring this year. As much as I love them, I’ve never added one to my collection. They’re not hardy in Seattle. They can be overwintered inside, but not at my house. Twinky, the plant-eating house cat, would be dead shortly after taking a taste of this seriously poisonous plant. So, I watched the buds as they slowly, painfully slowly, worked their way toward opening.
Angel Trumpet Blooming Mid-November 2008
A friend of mine is designing a show garden for the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in 2009. I got in touch in early October to see if she’d want my Angel Trumpet for her show garden. I knew she’d have a greenhouse for it and could keep it alive and probably push it to bloom for the show. Save a plant right? Well, she does want it. I told her I wanted to hold onto it as long as I could to see if it would bloom this fall. Promising to watch the weather so we wouldn’t loose the plant, I patiently checked it regularly for true blooms rather than tight green pod-like forms on the stems. By Halloween I’d given up and was nervous the weather would turn any moment, so I called my designer friend to set a date for her to pick it up.
Late last week she dropped by to get it and the flowers were just opening. Still green, but ruffling out a bit. And, she couldn’t fit it in her truck. We decided to deliver it to the greenhouse another time. Then, I looked out my office window yesterday morning. And, Mid-November, my Angel Trumpet is blooming. Its leaves are a bit battered from fall wind storms and some are even turning color for autumn. Yet, several pale pink blooms are adorning the stems, reminding me of spring on this fall day. I have about a week to enjoy the blooms, then I need to figure out how to transport this small tree to the greenhouse where it will be given lots of pampering to fancy it up for the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in 2009.
