One of the speckled, double flowered hellebores (below) is flowering at the start of November. Clearly, it’s confused, with a second flower on the way. By late in the month it’s possible we’ll see the first of the white flowered Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) that typically begin their flowering in mid-December, but this hellebore planted a year ago appears to be from the Lenten rose genetics which are mid to late winter flowering. I don’t believe I’ve seen out of season hellebores blooming in the past, but it happens.

Recent temperatures have hovered in the upper thirties, but this first night in November plunged into the twenties. More containers of non-hardy plants were shuttled into the basement, and the tender mangaves were hurriedly dug and potted to store for the winter (below). Several have spread to a considerable size, so indoor storage will not be so simple as a year ago. For now, they’re in the unheated greenhouse, but that’s temporary.

Nights with freezing temperatures are not unusual for November. I recall frosts as early as late September, and while I’m happy to delay the start of winter temperatures, this cold only slightly accelerates the change of seasons that’s been evident in the garden for weeks.

There should be few short term issues with the cold, that is, as long as the tropicals are stashed indoors. Flower of camellias (above) and azaleas (below) are likely to be damaged, just like they are every year, but at least with the camellias there are more buds that should open with any window of four or five mild days over the next month. Unfortunately, the freeze damaged flowers hang around for weeks, but you must ignore those if you’re not motivated to yank them off.