Fall Beauty and Gardening Chores

Never did I think I would be out in my back garden on October 29^th in a tank top, working the soil, and sweating like crazy. It is crazy!

I cut the sedum back as well as the pink phlox. The sedum has already started on next year’s growth. That plant, by the way will be divided into 4 and three given away!

The bleeding hearts have stopped blossoming but the plants seem to be unaffected by any frost we’ve had…and we’ve had a few. I’ll just leave them.

I worked the soil with my garden weasel and was able to pull up some of the biggest clumps of grass that started growing. I think I’ll put down some weed and feed now and maybe it will discourage grass and weed growth in the spring, as well as give them a feeding boost.

The shepherd’s crooks are up and ready for filled seed feeders. I bought the seed today and I’m waiting for it to turn cold. As long as the weather stays mild the birds will be ok. I checked the low temps for the next ten days and they will be from the high 30s to the upper 40s. If this keeps up I’ll save money on birdseed (as well as natural gas heating). For 6 months last year (Nov. through April) feeding the birds cost an average of $80 a month. I don’t mind. Watching the birds all winter gives me so much pleasure.

This picture has nothing to do with gardening. It's all about beauty. This is what I look at out my back door. And, as I write this, a weather front is blasting through from the SW with 25 mph winds. I don't think the leaves will last much longer.

Bleeding Heart. They still look great!

This is the sedum. Two years ago it was a little bitty thing. Look at it now!

Resurrection of Frost--bit Plants?

Can plants that have been frost bitten come back to life? Apparently yes, and apparently they were not killed by the frost. My blue delphiniums were really dead except for one stem of flowers, which is now in a vase. The rest of the plant was squish.

However, halfway through cutting back the bee balm, I realized it had come back to life. Early this morning it was wilted. By 11 a.m., it was rejuvenated.

Instead of cutting back everything on the other side, I looked to see what had not come back. That meant the ornamental peppers got pulled up. The sedum, pink phlox, and bleeding heart were left for another day.

Out front, just the peppers were pulled up. The petunia, that insists on growing, was left in the ground. It’s so determined that it deserves to be left in the ground until it succumbs on it’s own terms.

Looks like there will be another cutting back in the garden. Not what I had planned. Wish now I had left the bee balm! 

First Cold Snap - Fall 2015

Last night north central Connecticut had temperatures below freezing. Our local weather forecaster on WFSB Channel 3 showed our low temp this morning at 27°. The thermometer I have outside my basement sliders showed just 32°.

As proof of the freezing temp, the water in the birdbath had ice in it and as of right now (11:15 a.m.) still has ice! My flowers, however, seem to be unaffected by the cold.

My back garden, on one side, has had huge pumpkin plant leaves that came through the fence from my neighbor's garden and have hung over mine for quite a long time now. They were the only ones that got nipped by the cold.

It will be interesting to see what tonight’s temps will do.

That's ice on the bird bath.

If you look at the second and fourth pictures down in the previous posting, you'll see what this garden looked like a couple weeks ago. Notice the huge leaves from my neighbor's pumpkin plant that you don't see in this photo. They succumbed to the cold.

The front garden looks fine. Even the petunia looks good. My neighbor has roses that survived the night. I'll pick a few peppers and bring them inside to dry...that will be next year's crop. The rest I'll leave out until they get frost bit. You can see where I have already cut back the phlox.

Fall Flower Gardening

Gardening in the fall, for me, means trashing the annuals that have gone by and deciding when to cut back the perennials. This year, however, two of my friends were horrified that I would trash the annuals.

Elizabeth got two of the tuberous begonias and the geranium. Mary took away one tuberous begonia, two of the ornamental peppers from the back garden, and the three upright fuchsias. They’re happy and so am I, because the annuals have a chance to live on over the winter and be replanted outside in the spring…if they so choose. Not sure if the plants are happy. Maybe Elizabeth and Mary will know more about that as time goes on.

Posted below are pictures of what my back gardens look like now. A little bare around the edges, but, like it or not, before long this will all be covered in the white stuff.

I have to start thinking about setting up the bird feeders, too. I bought two new feeders while I was on the Cape and can’t wait to put them up.

I love this time of year!

 The bee balm above was cut back at the end of July when it was past blossoming. Look at it now. I have a plan for next year to keep it blooming all through August and, maybe, into September while the hummers are still around.

 My neighbor's plant (I think they planted a pumpkin) seems to like my garden best. It was pointed out to me by Mary, that the leaves on this plant that are in my neighbor's garden are past their prime, whereas the same plant's leaves that jumped the fence into my garden look young and healthy. I have no explanation and I can't help it if they like my garden best!

 Look at the bleeding heart, will you! I'm told it should have died back long ago. I have no idea. I just plant them and let God take care of the rest. Of course all the little nature sprites and garden fairies should also get credit.

Only one ornamental pepper plant left in the back. Mary took the other two. Early on in the season I dug one up and gave it to my son, Paul, because the sedum was all over it. 

One day soon, I'll put up pictures of the front garden. It still has lots of flowers. The bee balm in the front seems very tired compared to the back. I pulled out the morning glories and the wave petunias, yet one petunia apparently stayed behind and insists on flowering. But, all that is for another day.