And it's all done for 2006.

And now, I am just about finished with my gardening for the year. All that remains is turning over the veggie plot for winter and mulching the rose garden after the ground freezes.

After a few nights of good hard killing frost the impatiens looked a sight! Plants that had been about 2 feet high the day before were nothing but a pile of slime on the ground. They're so tender. They looked exactly like what happens if you leave a bag of lettuce in the fridge way too long - somewhat recognizeable as plant material, but that's it - slimey, grey green, limp, liquified, no sign of leaves or flowers or anything. Ick.

SOOOO obviously that bed had to be pulled clear today, as well as the pots by the front door. I've also lost the hanging bridal veil that was so impressive this year, so out they all went. For now the mum is hanging on but that's all I've got on the porch.

I cleared out the impatien bed and put in the very last of the remaining bulbs - tulips at the back (which I don't think will do well, not enough sun) and a large daffodil and some woodstock hyacinth at the front, crocus along the path edge and in front. I had to dig down deep and cage all of those bulbs in chicken wire that was carefully sealed before covering them (we have a rodent of some sort in that bed who would eat the bulbs otherwise), so you can imagine what a job that was. But, it's done now! The bed is ready for winter, soaked in, and well mulched. A pumpkin or two and it will look nice until we've got good snow cover.

I watered everything well and tomorrow I think I'll shut down the outside water. The pipes will freeze soon otherwise... all week we're supposed to have a mix of light rain and snow so a little extra moisture will get to everything, but I'm done watering. I'll put away the hoses tomorrow.

Next year I need to buy a new hose attachment, and new gardening gloves. Thicker ones that can handle the Candian thistle in July! Maybe a good pitchfork too for turning soil. I'm putting them on my list.

Time now to settle in and plan for next year!

And Winter is Here (So soon???)

It snowed today. I'm not ready for winter! Still it was beautiful. It's cold too, for where we are in the year - right now (11pm) the therm says 27 degrees outside. I've lost the tender plants, like the impatiens and the basil. Probably lost the strawberries and calendula (I picked all the remaining blooms yesterday though, dozens and dozens!) The trees are putting down the last of their red and gold leaves. Now comes the quiet.

My back hurts..

OK I got a lot of hours of work in today! Pete repaid me for watching the kids while he installed a new water softener all day yesterday, and let me work in the garden all day today. I got the lawn mowed, leaves mulched, seeded the bare spots in the lawn and watered them in, watered my cuttings, examined the veggie garden, calendula, roses, and raspberry patch, dug in a new garden by the ugly bush out front which I pruned back to nothing, planted catnip mint, watered the front yard, and planted fed watered and mulched a bunch of bulbs. My feet hurt and BOY will my back be aching tomorrow. Here's some highlights before I hit the sack so I remember what I did.

First: lawn! I didn't do much beyond mowing it one last time before winter without the bag so all the leaf litter we had - and there was tons of it - got mulched into the lawn. I still have the blade set high and I think that will be fine for the end of the year. Note to self: figure out how to drain any remaining gas from the mower before winter. Also next Spring check the spark plugs and oil the blade. I went around and seeded the bare spots in the lawn by hand, with a fall hardy turf mix. We were going to give up on seeding when we saw the instructions on the bag, which called for watering three times a day (yeah right) until germination which should take 30 days. Oh, and protect from frost. It was impossible! But I used some of the same seed to seed a large dish full of potting soil - I grow it inside all winter and the cat munches on it, it helps prevent hairballs and keeps him happy - and it is day 7 and the seedlings are like 4" tall. No kidding. So even though we're getting snow in a couple short days I'm giving it a chance.

Next I dug in some bulbs. I dug in a new bulb bed out in the S front yard, by the bush that won't die. I dug it really deep and added a bit of light potting soil to the mix (I didn't have any peat moss or vermiculite handy) wherever I planted bulbs today to improve drainage, which is good for bulbs. They really dislike wet feet. I put some in on the N side of the house too. A few more crocus and some daffs in once the impatiens die back and I am done!

New bed: I planted three Angelique tulips in the center, butterfly daffodils on the SE edge, and Peppermint Duet Tulips all around the other side. Crocus all over the top.

N side: Near the fence I planted Daffodils in the back, 2 Woodstock and a Fondant hyacinth in the front, with crocus on top. By the A/C unit I planted Angelique Tulips in back, one Blue Jacket hyacinth in front, and crocus all over the top.

Note that may be of interest - as I was planting today my neighbor (who is crazy, but they do have a pretty yard) walked by and when she found I was planting bulbs, said "Oh! I don't bother planting those any more because every time I do, the deer just eat them all." Now, let me tell you, I know deer growing up in the area I did. We had to go out and physically chase them of the gardens on a daily basis. I have NEVER in the 4 years we've lived here seen a single deer. I'm sure they exist, and it's a pretty rural area near a watershed so no surprise if we have them, but I am skeptical. We DO have lots of rabbits though. Run all around the backyard and freak the kids out! So either way I should plan on doing some repellant when the bulbs are tender and new and tasty looking.

Other updates: Cuttings are doing ... ehhhhh. I don't think I will be able to save the angelonia. The bridal veil on the other hand has rooted relatively well so we'll see.

Before the snow I need to do some harvesting. The bramble is heavy with berries, and I still have lots of tomatoes. I plan on picking the green ones before they get frost spoiled and ripening them inside. I NEED to dry the basil too. The bush is huge but the leaves are starting to suffer from the cooler nights already. Calendula too needs to come in tomorrow.

The impatiens will die on Wednesday for sure, they're so tender, and before they do I wanted to record their stature! They are BEAUTIFUL, they really do incredibly well there and did last year too. A perfect choice for that spot apparently. They are right now up to the middle of the third piece of siding on the garage, and there's cement below that, so about thigh height on me. Pretty big for impatiens! Plus they're so low maintenance I love it. No deadheading, no freaky water needs, little weeding. Just plant and enjoy come the warm weather.

The roses are having a last hurrah before the snow and it's so pretty. All three in the middle have blooms and the mix of the deep red Champlain against the creamy white and yellow Submarine is very striking. I manged a nice mix of foliage there too and it looks good. I should remember Salvia behind the YS next year if I can't find Angelonia. The NW still suffers on and off from black spot but we have almost beaten it! Damned if it will take MY rose bush. Keeping the spots off as soon as they're noticed is doing the trick. I am leaving all the blooms on the roses now and have been for a while, to encourage hipping. I have a few starting and hope to have several more before the plants go dormant - nothing is prettier than rose hips in the snow!

Oh, I cut back the daylillies today too. More like I mowed over them with my high blade, but same effect. The foliage was yellowed and limp so it was time, the bulbs have all they need for next year. I wanted to get a really good look at the soil back in that bed and around the trees so I can figure out how to manage it better next year.

I think that's it! I'm exhausted!

I'm going bulb crazy

Ok so I keep planting bulbs and then thinking of more spots that would be perfect with a little spring color, so I keep buying more! I have gone slightly bulb crazy. Who knows if they will even bloom in my garden (they need well drained sandy soil, and our soil is more clay than it could be) but at least I am buying them cheap. It's the very end of season here - we'll have a hard frost and some snow by Wednesday night - so everything is cut price as people scurry to get them in the ground, watered in, and well rooted before the ground freezes.

If they survive, I will have a lovely garden this spring with loads of brilliant color! If they don't, well, I'll know to dig them up and try something else.

Thursday I got a fair amount of planting done while Katie was here watching the girls. Of course I spent half the time she was here cleaning up after the cat, who was puking everywhere, but that's another story.

In the front corner edge of the garden, where the hosta bed meets the walkway, I have a nice mostly sunny spot. I put in a nice plot with clusters of triumph tulips, a couple pink and deep blue hyacinth, and then covered the whole thing with crocus to be my early color.

I got in a row of hyacinth by the laundry window - hopefully as they bloom I can open the window and let that heavenly scent coat my washing! I have three clusters about 6" apart of a pink (the fondant) and blue (blue jacket) hyacinth there.

At the very front left (NW) corner of the hosta garden I put in a great bed of crocus and anemone. The anemone were weird shaped bulbs. Like little nuggets or bark kind of, no pointed end to say which way was up. I have NO idea if they'll take.

I still want a bunch on the N side of the house (light but no direct sun - we'll see?) The tulips have to go in brighter light than the daffs or hyacinth so I'll put those in the rose garden, along the back fence facing East, next to the ugly bush in front, or around the columbine.

All bulbs need to be planted in the impatien bed but we have a vole eating everything there, so I need to a) kill the vole and b) cage the bulbs with chicken wire before they go in. This is a much more time consuming job than it sounds like, especially with two little kids. Wire cutters and preschoolers: not a good combination.

Anyway here's what else I picked up today!


This beautiful mix of species tulips is called the Peppermint Stick Duet. They flower together with colors that set each other off, and look beautiful at least in the pictures. We shall see!

These lovely double tulips are called Angelique. Very feminine aren't they? They will be nice for cut flowers!

Look at this show stopper! When I saw it I was sold, it's stunning. It's called a Woodstock hyacinth and descriptions of its color range from beet red to wine burgundy. I can't wait to see it bloom, it will be a showpiece if I can get it going!

Finally a mix of daffodils called butterflies - the trumpets are split, as you can see in the picture, and frill back towards the petals so they have a shape kind of like butterflies. They do look very springy and fragrant!

Anyway I can't wait for spring to see what shows up. Everything is planted correctly, given a little blood meal (12-0-0), mulched VERY heavily for winter with cedar; I"ll remove mulch in spring; and watered in good. Nothing to do now but wait right?