The Difference of the Day

Well, good thing we were ready. Overnight snow amounted to a couple of inches, and this may be the end of yard work for the season. Bill did think ahead and bring down the snow shovels over the weekend, so he was ready to clear our drive and also the neighbor's. The first snow is, of course, lovely. But, I could learn to live without it.

I'm glad I snapped one photo of the planter with its holiday display before the snow fell. It will be fine, though the dyed red accent decoration may run and fade even if this melts quickly.

Also, one more of the gargoyle as he watches over the frozen pond. Seems so lonely at this time of the year. Nice to know that four fish have been saved in the aquarium in the basement.

Late Fall Cleaning

This was the weekend to finally finish all of the winter preparations. Now, we are ready!

Cut the grass one last time to grind up the last of the leaves before snow covers the lawn. Moved the patio furniture up to the garage and brought the winter birdbath down. Put the plastic liner pots from the deck down on the garden below so the deck will be easy to shovel. Seems twice as big this time of year with nothing on it.

I gathered all of the screens to store in the garage so that the light can shine in without obstruction. We finally got the storms on the front and back doors - I guess that is the final concession to winter - no screens providing even the slightest hope of a balmy day.

This year I cut back the heuchera along the front walkway to the edge of the walk. It will be easier to sweep or shovel this winter. also cut back the plants around the mailbox and the peony that I had somehow forgotten. Bill walked the roof to check the gutters and look for any problems. We blew the leaves out of the garage one more time.

After the cleanup work we had a little time to get ready for the holiday season. Some lights on a few of the evergreens will make the back yard nice to look at in the dark evenings. We put up the wreaths in front, and got the wiring ready for the porch tree lights.

A Pretty Late Fall Bonus

The Barberry bushes that we planted several years ago along the garage wall are beautiful for most of the summer, but especially nice in the fall. They contrast starkly with the blue-gray cedar siding, and I love their graceful form. In order to have them look like this each year we have to cut them back severely in the spring, and the thorns on these branches are evil.

The most difficult part is to find a place to put the cuttings, as they are deadly to come upon. We try to put them down along the creek, in a place where we don't often visit. There you could find the spent remains of several cacti that we've parted with, several years of barberry prunings, some juniper trimmings, and all the other difficult to handle botanical castoffs of our yard.

First Snow of this winter

It was beautiful... But thankfully just a short lived snow. Sunday morning last week, I think just a week after the beautiful warm Halloween evening on Friday, we had our first snow.

The view was quite lovely from the bathroom window as we dragged ourselves out of bed, and so, since it really wasn't all that cold outside, I put on some shoes and a sweater and went outside to grab a few photos.

I think I have taken more photos of this yard in the last year than anything else. Far more than can be reasonably added to this blog. This is the bane of digital photography - it is so easy to just keep snapping shots, and so difficult to cull through them. The space they take up on hard drives is huge. But I suppose it isn't as huge as the boxes of old photos that I have from my grandparents and parents.

The pond is basically ready to be put away for the winter. But we haven't had time to try to rescue any of the fish. We did manage to acquire a new filter and set up the aquarium in the basement. I hope the ice stays away until next weekend so we can try to capture at least one or two of the big guys in here to save them for next spring's larger version. I've decided to let some of the plants around the pond go, so we can expand and deepen it. Lee and LIn's pond is really only a little bigger than ours, but they are able to keep it open all winter and find much to watch even in the coldest weeks. Their fish reproduce and multiply, and they don't have to deal with them in the house over the winter.

This shot is of one of the sedum clumps at the sides of the vegetable garden. Some small creature has been digging down and around the roots of the plant and has managed to weaken the stems so that they aren't able to stand on their own. The main reason I love sedums is the structure of the plant in the fall, so this is something of a theft of all my hard work over this season. I think I'll have to dig it up and replant it this fall, hoping that it is able to establish itself well enough to re-grow in the spring. I'll leave some as they are just in case.

This is a photo of the east side of the house, after one growing season. Last spring I dug and killed pretty much everything here, hoping to re structure things and create some more mature beauty. I've had to use some Round-Up here and there, and I like it so far, but it has not managed to live up to my vision yet. Maybe next year.

The Beauty of the Declining Days Always Surprises Me

Haven't written in awhile, but fall has marched on. I do take the time to observe and photograph the yard every couple of days, and it is beautiful as it dies - well settles down for the long sleep. I hope that most of it will come back next year. Here are some shots that I like.

The euonymous 'burning bush' in the tricorn garden is quite a star for the last two months of the season, and I like the contrast with the grasses on three sides of it. They don't bloom every year, and this year has been a close call, but it looks like they will actually be able to push out their flowers by the time the season truly ends.

The Juncos are back, I think they've been here for a week or so, but today I was able to see one for absolute sure. Mostly just been seeing the white flashes of the sides of their tails, and it should be totally clear, but I like to have a close up view. Today they were having a bath and a drink in the pond, right below the window I was sitting at reading the Sunday papers. So, along with the zebra grass in the last photo, they comprise a full annual circle for this blog.

Bill managed to roto-till the garden last weekend - I really didn't think we'd be able to do that this fall. It does make it so much easier in the spring though, so it is good to get done. I suppose ideally we would do it a little earlier and be able plant a winter cover crop, but it is always so hard to be able to just get it done between all the other tasks and the vagarities of the weather.

I think that I have been able to successfully identify the unknown tree that has established itself just east of the birches in the front yard. It is pretty certainly a choke cherry. And another young one is growing at the far south eastern corner of the yard, just next to the creek near the bench in the woods. They are edge dwellers, and also common along creeks. As the sandbar willow recedes the natural succession includes them. There are also a couple of black walnut trees, one of them at least 30 feet tall already, that I never noticed establishing themselves until the last couple of years. Planted by squirrels most likely. They will change the area under them, as they are known to discourage any growth within their umbrella.

We are almost done with the conversion to the winter season. Today I cut back and boxed the cannas finally, after letting them settle in the garage for a couple of weeks. I have four boxes full of rhizomes, and one of elephant ears. Hope they all make it through the winter. There are still a couple of pots that need to be emptied and stored in the garage for the winter. And the patio furniture is still out - it seems so final to take it in. Plus we need to move the plastic liner pots off of the deck before the snow flies. But it really isn't more than an afternoon's work left to be ready.

We do have to gather vines from the creekside to add to the holiday tree on the front porch. We made it into a rather tacky ghost for Halloween. But it does need to be spruced up and filled in before we add the holiday lights.

It was one of the best Halloweens we have ever had in this house. The neighborhood was turned out, with people out in every front yard. And the kids were able show off their costumes without any coverings to ward off the cold or wet conditions that are usual. The street was full of multigenerational groups - for the first time I saw multiple tiny tots in strollers and cool costumes. We had over 100 treat seeking visitors, and the mood was festive throughout.