We’ve been having some particularly gorgeous sunrises lately.
It’s been a hot minute. I accidentally took the better part of a month off from updating the blog, and decided I ought to get back into the groove. So, now it’s December. We’ve had a few snowy days, some freezing days, cloudy days, and a lot of days where the temperatures have been above average for this time of year. The yard is blooming with dandelions again, something that usually doesn’t happen until the springtime.
A lot of the warmer-season bugs, like bees, have left for the season, but we’re still seeing ladybugs, stinkbugs, spiders, and little beetles whose species I don’t know. I’m sure if I did any digging around in the not-yet-frozen-ground, I’d find plenty of worms, pill bugs, and other creepy crawlies roaming about, too. Even when it is cooler out, there’s a lot going on in the soil.
Our volunteer maple tree put on quite a gorgeous show in November, with fiery orange leaves.
I did a tour of the garden the other day and was surprised at how much was still green this year. A few of the ferns are still hanging out, and the snow and freezing cold mornings haven’t managed to put all of the perennials to sleep yet. Most of the plants have finished for the season, though. As usual, I left up the vast majority for a winter display, as well as to help feed and house the local wildlife until springtime. I’m really enjoying all the tall, dry grasses, like the little bluestem. I know I talk about that native plant a lot, but I just love how different it looks in each season, and its tall, flowy brown stalks with their willowy little seed heads are just gorgeous at this time of year.
I love the way all the different plants look at this time of year, from brown grasses, to frost-covered herbs and green, orange, and red heucheras.
In addition to the gardens, we’ve still been enjoying our harvest from this years crops. The sugar pie pumpkins we grew made for some absolutely delicious pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving. And we are still making our way through the tomato paste from the san marzano tomatoes, as well as the smorgasbord of green beans that continue to pack the freezer. (I like mine with a little bacon and onion… mmm!).
Our sugar pie pumpkins made for a delicious pie!
I’ve been diligently making lists of which veggies, herbs, and fruits I’d like to try out next season. This process is ongoing, and I’ll likely make up about 74 different lists of plans before throwing the whole process out and simply buying whichever seed packets catch my eye once the seed catalogs arrive this winter. It’s fun to daydream, though, and I love a good list.
Speaking of lists, my project this month is to catalog all of the indoor plants. My little indoor jungle has become of showcase of my lack of self control in garden centers, as well as my inability to remember the names of anything. While one of the problems is surely too far gone to be helped, I think I can put my organizational skills to some use coming up with a spreadsheet naming all my plants. Who knows. Maybe in taking a closer look at all the plants, I’ll find some that can be split, necessitating a trip to the greenhouse for more pots! And plants! Win-win!
Hope that your garden is having a lovely sleep while you move your efforts indoors (if you are in the northern hemisphere). Happy gardening!
A few frosty mornings hailed the end of my beloved marigolds. They were a gorgeous addition to the raised beds, and I’ll definitely be planting more seeds next year.
Well, as expected, we had our first freezes this past week. The temps dipped back into the upper 20s one day, and each morning, the tips of every leaf and blade of grass have been covered in white frost. We said goodbye to the last of the zinnias, the marigolds, the hostas, sedums, as well as the remaining basil and oregano, pokeberry bush, and one lone tomato plant that I’d forgotten had planted itself beside the deck stairs.
We’ve had frost each morning for almost a week now. It finally feels like fall is here to stay.
I finally made it outside to attend to the hostas, sedum, and peony plants. After a hard freeze, the leaves of each of these plants tend to yellow and grow mushy. So, I went out and cut the plants back to the ground. The leaves were all tossed into the compost pile, and in a few months time, new shoots will sprout up for next seasons display. It’s always a little alarming to trim back a plant to its base. But, next year, new growth will pop up in the springtime.
I finally hacked back the hostas, and cleaned up things around the pond a bit. The area around the compost bin is next on the To Do List. You can barely see it in the corner here.
Taking these plants down gave me some good one-on-one time with the garden again. Really, it’s been awhile since I’ve been out to do much in the yard. It was just so bloody hot this summer, and humid (conditions I detest). Having some nice, cool days to get out and dig around a bit brought me a lot of happiness. I pulled some weeds, checked out the health of the plants that I’m leaving alone until next springs growth begins, and I did a bit of maintenance work around the pond. I pulled out the leaves and plant debris, and cleaned up a bit of the area around the water that I’d been letting grow wild. I’m still letting things grow, but it’s more of a controlled chaos.
Yesterday, I cut the hostas down to the ground. So long for now, beauties!
Over the weekend, in addition to the yard cleanup work, the husband took me to one of my favorite plant nurseries in the area: Groovy Plants Ranch. This was our second visit, and I was pretty much in planty heaven. The Ranch has several greenhouses, stocked full of exotic plants from all over the world. They have tropical varieties, cacti, succulents, and more in all shapes and sizes. The Ranch also has an area where you can pot up any new plants you’d like to buy there, as well as an old school house that they’ve converted into a little shop with local artwork, and seasonal plants. Right now, it is filled with all kinds of bulbs. The whole property is protected by a sweet Australian Shepherd who was quite fond of belly rubs. While the husband was distracted with her, I managed to sneak off to add a few more things to the basket.
My new pretties <3
Earlier this year, I’d made the decision that I wasn’t going to plant any more bulbs this year. I have tulips, a few varieties of daffodils, and crocuses already in the yard, and I don’t need any more. And, in years past, I’d had far more success trying to grow garlic by planting it in early spring than in the fall. So, naturally, I came home from The Ranch with an armload of daffodil and garlic bulbs. The daffodils went in under the big locust tree in our front yard, and the garlic went into one of the raised beds out back. What can I say? I am physically incapable of saying no to plants.
Garlic and daffodil bulbs… I don’t want to talk about it!
In addition to the bulbs, I nabbed a few more succulents, some more rock plants, and a pretty, frilly tropical plant whose name I forgot to write down. That reminds me… this winter, I want to take stock of all of my indoor plants. My collection has tripled in size since the Pandemic started, and I should probably be keeping better track of what all I’m growing. Anyway, I brought home lots of goodies. The kitchen windowsill is now completely filled with tiny potted succulents.
We’ve had some really pretty sunrises lately. Please ignore the giant floating phone reflection in the window!
I have one more recent plant acquisition to own up to: I bought a vanilla plant. It’s on its way in the mail. Vanilla, you may not know, is a type of orchid. The plant is a vine, and grows in the wild in Mexico. My little baby vine will be here soon, and I plan to train it up a potted trellis next to the loofah vines and the lemon tree in the husbands office. When it’s warm enough out again, all will move back to the deck. The vines take a bit of time to grow vanilla pods, but when they do, we’ll have our very own vanilla seeds. Picture the best custard you’ve ever had. Now imagine that, but 100x better, and that’s the crème brûlée that the husband will be making with our vanilla. I don’t mean to brag. Them’s just the facts.
The vanilla will likely take a few years to grow seed pods. In fact, it will probably be ready to harvest for the first time around the same time as our pineapples and lemons. But all will be worth the wait. That’s going to be one glorious summer, let me tell you.
In the summer, several of the peonies tend to end up in bouquets. In the fall, their spent flowers look almost as pretty, to me. I salvaged a few when I chopped the leaves down during fall clean up, and they ended up in a vase in the bathroom.
Anyway, for now, with the outdoor garden heading back to sleep, my attentions have been shifting to all my indoor plants. Many spend their summer on the deck, and move back inside as the temperatures fall. Some, I keep inside year-round, as we have much more rainfall than they prefer. I have a lot of them, as I’d mentioned, everything from air plants, to lithops, to long, vining pothos, and caterpillar plants. All of them make me quite happy, and have become a comfort during dark winter days, when my mood is not great. I’ll likely introduce them all to you at some point.
That’s all I have for this week. Whatever the size of your garden, or whichever season you are now in, I hope your plants are bringing you cheer. Happy gardening!
I found a few lacey leaves during fall clean up. They always catch my eye. Wonder who snacked on this one?
Fall sunrises seem extra special, with the light shining on all the colorful leaves.
Anyone else having some odd weather? It’s mid-October, and here in Central Ohio, we’re having near record-breaking temperatures… it’s been close to 90 degrees, which is not at all what I expected when we made it home from our vacation. The weekend started off foggy and humid, but the sun came out quickly, blazing hot, and it’s been warm ever since. The trees have started changing color. Our locust tree has dropped most of her leaves. But, the crisp cool autumn days I live for every year are, well, not here yet.
Before our trip, I cleaned out most of the raised beds, planted cover crops, emptied the deck pots, and moved plants indoors. The water pump in the pond was brought in and de-algae-ified (that’s the technical term). I thought there’d be a frost while we were away, or that it would at least be cool enough out that the fledgling pineapple plants would have some words for me. But, the changing climate is definitely making an impact. It seems like every year here, autumn starts a little bit later.
We went for a hike at the local metro park to catch the foggy morning air over the prairie.
Looking online, our first frost date doesn’t seem to be listed as having changed, but my own notes indicate that the frosts here are happening later each October (I’ve taken notes on the daily temps each day for a few years now, because I am a data-loving weirdo). We’ve been setting record highs quite often over the past few years, and the last frost date in the beginning of springtime, in May, seems to be moving as well (towards the middle of the month).
Notes like these are handy when it comes to planting out tender vegetables like tomatoes in the spring, because a frost will kill them off. I’ve also been taking some notes about rainfall, when it’s happening, and how much. This year, we had a LOT more rain than usual, at times when it normally doesn’t occur. The summer months are usually dryer, but we had quite a few days with flooding rains. My tomatoes caught blight, so next year, I’ll look for some varieties that are less likely to catch this disease. And, I’ll plant them even farther apart so their leaves have a better chance at drying as quickly as possible, keeping the blight spores away.
This is the latest I’ve ever harvested peppers. Our italian sweet peppers seem to have enjoyed the extra steamy days this month.
For now, there’s really not much to do around the yard but wait for the frosts to arrive. Once they do, I’ll cut the hostas back to the ground (their leaves get really slimy after the cold hits), but everything else will stay put until the springtime. I know I’ve written about the benefits of waiting to do the annual clean up until the spring before, but I’ll just quickly recap to say it’s best for the wildlife to leave as much as you can standing. The birds, pollinators, and other insects will thank you, and your yard will be healthier and happier.
Since many of the flowers have finished for the season, my attention has really turned to the trees, both in and around our yard, and out at the park. Autumn is such an art show for trees in my area. I’m so fascinated by their display each year, because things always seem to look a little different. Water and temperature impact the color of the leaves, and of course, there’s always new trees, trees that are no longer growing, and trees that have grown quite a lot to change the landscape. This time of year, I find myself wandering out of my garden quite a bit more than usual for a nice walk in the woods.
Hopefully you are having a wonderful start to October and the fall season (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere). Happy gardening!
We’ve been having some really gorgeous sun rises, which I’m finally catching since the days are getting shorter and the sun pops up later each day.
“Life starts over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s finally fall! We’ve had a deliciously cool start to the season, and I’ve been spending much more time outdoors to enjoy all the colors, sounds, and scents of fall. It’s been nice to just sit on the deck and watch the golden cottonwood leaves glitter and dance in the wind.
There’s still a lot going on in the garden, and I’ve seen more birds around this week. A group of blue jays have been playing in the back yard each morning. I watched them bury peanuts from the neighbors feeders in our raised beds, and they’ve been chasing each other around the fenceposts. The warblers have returned to the yard as well, driving the cats wild as they set up camp on the deck furniture, yelling and digging through the remaining potted plants for treats.
In the fall, our bay window becomes a little jungle, with space for the cats to nap under the tropical leaves.
Out in the yard, I cleaned out most of the raised beds. The druzba tomatoes had caught blight, a fungus that attacks during very damp conditions and causes leaves to brown and then rot. We had a summer full of pouring rains and humidity, and the tomatoes just couldn’t cope with it. I know that next year, I’ll be excited to grow them again, but I am feeling a little salty about the tomatoes at the moment. Not that it’s their fault, but they are just so particular about their growing conditions… it’s hard to get the formula right with climate change making our weather more extreme every year. Too little, or uneven watering? They catch blossom end rot (which I dealt with last year). Too much water (which is so often out of our control), they catch blight. Ugh.
Blight is pretty easy to spot on tomato leaves, starting with dark brown spots that eventually take over the entire leaf, killing the plant.
So, the blighted plants have been removed, and I made sure not to add them to the compost pile with everything else, as blight can overwinter in the soil and attack again. For the bed that was hit this year, I’ve made a note in my planner to plant something else there next year (not tomatoes), which should help the problem to disappear. We’ll see. I planted out some hairy vetch seeds in the beds. I have no expectations for them what-so-ever, but hopefully, the vetch will grow because it helps replace nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil.
I have marigolds growing next to where the tomatoes lived, and I’m letting them stay put over winter to give the birds and insects some food and housing material. I may harvest some of their seeds to grow again next year. In the final raised beds, the asparagus stays put, but I removed the bush beans. The last bed still has pole beans in it, that I’m letting dry so I can harvest the seeds to use next year. There’s still parsley growing in that bed, which is pretty tolerant of cold weather. I plan to let it stay there until next season.
I brought in our loofah vine to overwinter and found a cute little loofah, starting to grow!
Out in the rest of the beds, I’m letting things stay as is for now. The only clean up I’ll do will be to remove the slimy hosta leaves after we get a few hard frosts. All the rest of the perennials I’ll let be until the spring, when they will be cut back to the ground to regrow. And, on the deck, I’ve brought in all the tender plants, like my pineapples. A few plants, like the dahlias and cannas, I cut back to the soil level, and brought the entire pot inside to live in the garage this winter. Plants like this will die off in the cold, but they will be protected in the garage, where it stays a bit warmer and dark. Why plants like this are fine with these conditions is something I don’t understand yet, but next spring, I’ll haul the pots back outside and watch them start growing like nothing happened.
After removing the flowers, gently dig up the geraniums, shake out the dirt from the roots, and store them in a cool, dark spot where they will have a bit of air to keep from rotting, like in an open box.
Another plant that I’m over-wintering are my geraniums. I used to bring the entire pot in each fall, but they take up a lot of room. The other night, I saw a video from gardening guru, Susan Mulvihill, of Susan’s in the Garden on a different way to overwinter the plants. She is a master gardener out in Washington, and one of my go to resources for gardening advice. Anyway, Susan explained that to save your geraniums, you can cut off all the flowers, gently remove the plants from the dirt (with leaves still on), shake as much dirt off the roots as possible, and then store them in a box with some airflow in a garage or basement. I’m putting mine in a paper bag in the basement. Check on them about once a month to make sure nothing is rotting. The plants will look like they die off, but in the spring, you’ll see leaves start growing again. Plant magic! I’m hoping this not only saves me some space in the house, but also helps these geraniums to be less leggy-looking when they grow again next spring. I’ve had them for years now and they are getting a wee bit scraggly.
That’s all I have for the week. I may do some clean up in the pond and unplug the fountain this week, but that’s really about the last of the clean up I have to do until the springtime. Now it’s just sitting back, watching the leaves change color and fall, and enjoying these sunny, cool days. Happy gardening!
This mantis was so big, I spotted her from my perch on the couch. She was making her way around the lemon tree, perhaps in search of a snack.
