So here we are in November — close to the end of the year.

According to “The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the origin of the name “November” comes from the Latin word “novem” meaning “nine” because originally it had been the ninth month of the early Roman calendar.

Speaking of calendars, our favorite (from free samples received for review) is the popular “UMass Garden Calendar,” which has been produced for almost 30 years by the staff of the UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program.

The 2022 calendar continues their tradition of providing gardeners with useful information. Each month features an inspiring garden/horticultural image, daily gardening tips for Northeast growing conditions, sunrise and sunset times, and phases of the moon. There’s also plenty of room for notes, and low-gloss paper for easy writing.

The cost is $14 plus shipping. Proceeds from sales benefit the work of UMass Extension’s educational programs. For more information, visit https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/publications-resources/umass-extensions-garden-calendar.

……. So far, it has not been “the usual” November, for sure. As I write and look out my office window, I’m amazed that so many trees are still covered with green leaves. Yes, there are spots of red and orange canopies, but not the usual fall foliage for this time of year.

With no major “killing” frosts yet in our neighborhood, many rose bushes are still in bloom. And, about a week or so ago, we were gifted with gorgeous daylily blooms.

Although our vegetable garden was not so productive this year, we ate our last tomatoes on November 4. They were grape tomatoes and they were yummy!

But, the weirdest happening of all is that some of our rhododendrons, azaleas and even some creeping phlox are in bloom. The question is: Will they have any blossoms come next spring?

The hollies are full of beautiful red berries and hopefully we’ll get to do some “trimming” that will provide us with long-lasting “stems” to decorate our three front-of-the-house containers, including the one on our front-stairs stoop. It will be bye-bye time for the begonias, coleus and shiso, but the Autumn Joy sedums and the variegated vinca vines will stay (at least for now).

Humming bird feeders have been taken down, cleaned and put away. State wildlife researchers tell us that it’s safe to start feeding the birds again with birdseed. We recently read that Americans spend $6.3 billion on wild birdseed and feeders in the United States annually.

Since our birdbaths are made of concrete, it will soon be time to give them a good scrubbing/cleaning/rinsing and turn them over, since freezing water would crack them. Maybe sometime in the future we’ll get at least one solid-stone birdbath that will not be harmed by winter’s freezing/thawing.

Indoors, it’s time to re-pot the houseplants. Sadly, ours been neglected. My bad!