I Simply Remember These Favorite Things with Dr. A’s November 2024
A Plant - Pineapple sage, Salvia rutilans
‘Golden Delicious’ Pineapple sage
I am racking my brain for a plant that looks good for me in November, one that I have not already mentioned in past favorites. While late fall flowering plants are not as well known as others, fall is the best time for many salvias. And how I love pineapple sage.
My garden is certainly ratty at this time of year, and frost is just around the corner, but pineapple sage is glowing. Try rubbing a leaf between your fingers and taking a whiff; the foliage actually does smell of pineapple. Come autumn, and the bright red flowers are at their peak. Buy in the spring, and they will reward you with handsome specimens in the fall.
A wonderful cultivar is ‘Golden Delicious’, so named for golden leaves.
Pineapple sage showng deep red flowers int fall.
A Garden - Powis Castle, Wales
Many of the gardens I mention in this blog seem more appropriate for those who enjoy traveling overseas. There are untold lands to visit, but I recommend the ancient land of Cymry, the Welsh name for Wales. The castles, villages, countryside, and, of course, the gardens are outstanding.
When asked which garden I have visited is my favorite, Powis Castle is in the top five (I wrote about Mt Stewart in Northern Ireland in October 2024—it, too, is among my top five). The castle itself goes back at least to the 1200s and is certainly interesting, but the formal Italianate terraces with the spectacular plantings throughout are stunning.
The gardens on the terraces are quite formal but nothing like staid French estates. They boast rambling perennials, robust climbers and wonderful containers of fuchsia and other colorful plants. On every terrace. The most jaw dropping vistas however are the gigantic clipped yew hedges, so large that scaffolding is needed by the gardeners shaping them.
This is a Royal Trust property, easily searched online.
A Book -The Women
Author: Kristin Hannah
Fiction
The sun-drenched idyllic world of Southern California, where Francis (Frankie) McGrath is raised, is almost oblivious to the outside world. However, in 1965, the Vietnam War cannot be ignored. The war was really not real until her brother was killed in a helicopter crash. At that point, Frankie joins the Army Nursing Corps, much to the objections of her conservative parents.
In the beginning, the newscasts all report minimal casualties to American forces, but Frankie quickly finds out the true horror of Vietnam. She is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of the war. The scars of the war were terrible enough, but the real battle begins when she arrives home – to angry protesters and a country that wants nothing to do with the Vietnam war.
This is a fantastic story, one that opens your eyes to the horror of a war that never should have been fought and to the women who put themselves in harm’s way only to be shunned and forgotten.
A Show/Movie- Lincoln Lawyer - Netflix
This was first a book by Michael Connelly in 2005, then a movie in 2011 starring Matthew McConaughey, and is now a streaming series that started in 2022, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller.
I enjoyed the book back then, and the movie was OK, but Susan and I are hooked on the streaming series. The cast is terrific, the episodes are enjoyable, and the twists in each season are great fun. Two seasons are available, and a third is in production.
Entertaining and worth a watch in the evening.
A Place - The Great Wall, China
I apologize in advance for including this as a great place to visit. Not because it is not one of the world’s great wonders but simply because it is a long way to go and not the most accessible place to get to. However, more and more people are visiting China, and if you have the opportunity, jump on it.
The Great Wall extends over 13,000 miles. Historians believe some construction started as early as 200 BC, but the best-known sections and best maintained were likely built by the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Part of the Great Wall, the Badaling Great Wall, is only about 40 miles from downtown Beijing. Walking the Great Wall, even for only a short distance, is unlike anything you have ever done.
There are literally hordes of people in some of the sections close to Beijing, and depending on the time of year, it may not be a serene stroll. But simply stopping (a necessary action because the wall is very steep in sections) and staring at the length of the wall and the terrain on which it travels will have you wondering how in the world it was ever built.
China is huge; Beijing alone has over 21 million people. However, a walk on the wall will have you marveling for years.
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