What's New in November

November has always been one of my least favorite months. The chillier temperatures and the lessening hours of daylight really get me down. (I will say, there is a certain quality to the afternoon light in early November that I like, but it is small compensation.)

However, despite the darkening days, I've noticed some active growth among my houseplants. Just the thing for beating the blues.

NoId Mammillaria in bloom. These tend to bloom in either the late winter or in the summer for me, so this is a nice surprise.

The same plant photographed next to a (blurry) quarter to show its small size. In this photo, additional flower buds are visible to the left of the open flowers.

Paphiopedilum orchid in bud. The tag reads: Paph (makuli-curtisii)-maudiae x maudiae 'Napa Valley' NCC/AOS x sib.
Orchid nomenclature is a trip!

Brand new Monstera deliciosa leaf

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flowers

These next two weren't things blooming or growing around the house. Rather they are NoId Phalaenopsis orchids I purchased a few days ago on clearance. One of the reasons they were on clearance is that their tags are missing. I'm sure that the lack of all that text is worth a few dollars.

Yellow Noid Phalaenopsis

Second NoId Phalaenopis with Hedera helix and a variegated Hoya carnosa in the background.

Speaking of Hoyas, one of my other variegated Hoya Carnosas (I think it might be 'Krimson Queen,' but I'm unsure) is putting out a branch with pink leaves. I'm inordinately pleased about this. Several years ago, when I bought this plant, it had mostly green leaves with various degrees of pink/white variegation as well as a branch of all white/pale pink leaves. It sat in the window for months and didn't grow. I finally read somewhere that solid white or pink branches will slow the growth of a plant, because they lack chlorophyll and thus do not contribute to making food for the plant. It was recommended that they be cut off. I did so, and my plant took off. This Hoya is now very large, has been potted up four times, and has several bloom spurs. But most of the leaves were virtually all green, lacking the variegation that attracted me to the plant in the first place. So now that the plant is so big and full of green, I'm going to indulge myself and let the pink vine grow.

Pink branch on Hoya carnosa. A variegated H. carnosa 'Hindu rope' is to the right.