The reaction of the average person around here this week when I said that Ed stays home on nice days to work in the garden was one of disbelief. "Gardening, isn't that all over by now? " Indeed for most people it is over. The weather is closing in on us more quickly every day. We still have a few lovely flowers blooming like this Sedum sieboldi.
One or two plants of Ingeborg's mallow still have their lovely pink flowers.
Elle's Gloriosa Daisies have been fantastic this year, and despite numerous frosts, they haven't all given up yet.
The Emperor of China chrysanthemums are finally starting to bloom. It would be a shame not to visit and appreciate this end of the season beauty.
A beautiful hawk was seen perching in the big cherry tree. It had a dark head and brown speckles on its white chest like a lace necklace. All day the Canada geese make their trial flights over our head. Their honking and wing beats break the quiet until they settle back down on the river or into a cornfield with pungent freshly spread manure. The slate gray juncos have returned. Still in a large group they fly away when approached flashing the white stripes on their tails as they go. They will spend the winter here with the chickadees.
There are weeds to pull. Old enemies and new unknown plants would love to have the whole winter to establish better roots. It is our goal to leave as many of the garden beds clean and looking good as possible. The pictured weeds here are now working to make compost. Cutworms, Japanese beetle larva and slugs are squished when they are discovered and added to the bucket of weeds. Gloves worn because of the cool weather make this a fun activity.
This lemon verbena was not selected for a spot on the basement windowsill because there was no more space available. Rather than leave it in the ground to die of neglect when the weather really turns cold, it was moved to compost while still green. In a couple of years its unmistakable scent will be encountered once again as compost is sifted. The cycle just keeps moving forward.
This snow sled was purchased at an end of season sale. Becky felt it might serve as a stone boat. Freshly fallen leaves make a slick surface to slide the stone over. It was moved downhill despite the fact that the distance to the driveway was greater that way. The pull was easy and once it nearly overtook me. A smooth pull behind the Ranger delivered this beauty close to the developing rock garden.
We expect the frost to enter the ground here in about two weeks. If the rain moves away, a real start can be made now on the next gardening season.
3 comments:
That is quite a view in your header. It is amazing that the garden still lives on with some blooms. They are calling for a freeze or hard frost this weekend so we shall see if it ends the blooms. I wish I could clean my beds, but with my knee issues, again I cannot kneel so the weeding will wait until spring. But we are clearing the plants and readying the veg beds. I say the longer we can keep the gardening chores going the better.
Hi Beckie: What a great idea for the sled/rock hauler. I need to follow your advice, as I'd like to add some rock formations to the garden. Since I live in/on the edge of an Oak forest, I don't do much "gardening" in the fall--there's too much raking to do. Last fall, I think I lugged probably 20 tarps full of leaves into the woods, which is probably equivalent to about 100 bagsful (that's just an estimate). Many of the leaves form mulch around my plants, some get mowed into the grass, and the rest we haul into the woods, since we own that land, too. Anyway, I'm impressed by your industriousness. And you have many things still blooming--nice!
Fall is one of my busiest gardening seasons! We've been working on a retaining wall the past couple of weeks, and spreading compost around, so I haven't even started bulb planting yet. Hopefully this week I can do that and do some more garden cleanup. I love the end of the season blooms, though! I feel like there are always a few sporadic surprises dotted around the garden in fall to enjoy!
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