November 2025 Garden Report

By Thea Hegland, Plant I.D. Supervisor

The stunning Dahlia Border takes its final bow for the season after a few glorious days in early November. As with all good things, the end is bittersweet. While the flowers are still gorgeous, they are carefully cut down, and the tubers are all dug up to be saved for next year. Often, perplexed visitors ask, why must we do this? It is all about the timing. The Dahlias are an important display at The Gardens and we want to have them for visitors to enjoy for as long as possible. We also need to save the tubers for next year’s display. It is essential the tubers receive exposure to some light frost to start the enzymatic journey into dormancy before they are dug up for the winter. It is also imperative to accomplish this before a hard frost comes and damages the tubers, which can happen overnight, hence we must carefully monitor the forecast and temperatures before we bid farewell to our beautiful Dahlia Border for another year.

The ever-popular Greenhouse Tours are once again taking place on Saturday and Sundays all month. It is here where all new plants are grown whether by seed or cuttings and all the tender shrubs and plants are overwintered. These tours offer a fascinating look behind the scenes here at The Gardens. If you are fortunate enough to get the one of the limited spots available, I highly recommend taking advantage of this opportunity.

As for the gardeners, there is no time to be sad after all the pretty flowers are gone. November is such a busy month in the garden, and each gardening crew methodically checks off long lists of tasks before winter arrives. It is a complex time that involves a tremendous amount of coordination within the gardening team and other departments to ensure the next big shows are a success. As of December 1, it is all about Christmas and the gardeners must finish planting all the spring bulbs, clean up all the leaves that have fallen, and prepare the Rose Garden for a long winter slumber, so the Arts and Entertainment crew can then sweep in and finish installing the Christmas displays.

For visitors, November in The Gardens has a secret intrigue. Now, it is the curious little things that capture our interest and our hearts. Few flowers remain but the beauty is quiet and contemplative. Hummingbirds can be found feeding on the nectar of the delicate flowers of the hardy Fuchsia and Abelia shrubs. The brilliant purple berries of the Callicarpa americana (Beautyberry) are highly attractive in the garden but also an important food source to the local birds. With so many berried shrubs in The Gardens, the birds are quite present as they fuel up for the winter months. Other unique plants of interest include Clerondendron trichotomum with striking bright blue berries surrounded by pinkish -red calyces and Euonymus europaeus (Spindle tree) with clustered red fruit surrounding orange seeds. Both these small specimen trees can be found in The Gardens and brighten the November days.