Tess

It's been a recent observation that roses can bloom late in the year during November. Often these are certain hybrids and climbing rose plants. 

There is Tess of the d'Urbervilles an English rose that is different to many other roses. A David Austin creation, this flower is deep red in colour and fragrant. As the DA daughter she stands proud, twirling around gracefully and favouring walls, pillars and lattices. She enters a stage of sleep during winter months, needing a blanket of mulch at the base to keep her roots warm, secured with ribbons and strapped in just in case of storms. Any bits of dryness and damage can be pruned as it cleanses the rose, a bit like trimming off hair split-ends. To care during winter, give her little water, don't prune or fertilise until spring.

There is even a book Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. 

Storm Valkyrie 

Sharing this

 There is a beautiful poem dedicated to the month of November by Elizabeth Coatsworth. This graphic came from The Kitchen Garden Witch and includes this same poem. I wanted to bring it here. 

It's very nice and fits in too. 

Love from Storm Valkyrie 🌹

Interstellar visitor

 

A significant event in the sky has been happening this year. In June 2025 an interstellar object approached our solar system. This was given the name 3I Atlas, and is officially classed as a comet. While many comets have passed, this particular "comet" is different. Firstly it comes from another star system. An interstellar comet is actually a very new or rare guest appearance. 

It's speed is extremely fast as it's travelling up to 60km per second. The object is the size of a city but larger than Mount Everest. It's hyperbola and doesn't have a solar orbit. This object is metallic with nickel emissions, iron and carbon dioxide. Scientists such as Avi Loeb believes 3I Atlas could be artificial. He said that the interstellar comet might be a spaceship from an alien star!  

The object from interstellar space has many people interested. There are some fantastic ideas about what it could be, and there's mundane explanations about it too. Some believe it's a UFO, while others think it's just a natural piece of rock. The comet has passed planets and journeyed around our sun. It's a glowing white comet that altered colours and appears even rainbow! It's even sent a signal to our moon, and in response, the moon answered the call. This is definitely exciting!

We have just experienced a deep interstellar shining comet dancing into our neighbourhood star system, while then checking on the planets. The only other known recorded interstellar objects we've had come to our solar system has been 1I/Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. This doesn't mean there wasn't any before, but we've now got the technology to find it. 3I Atlas is here for Yule! 

Storm Valkyrie