Fall Garden Clean-up week 3

Today (Friday) we saw the sun!!! After weeks of cloudiness, rain, and even snow for a bit yesterday, we got a beautiful afternoon.

Still, it was 32° fahrenheit at 9 am, and the forecast is calling for near or below freezing night temperatures for the near future. There still may be some sporadic warmer days, but winter coat, hat, gloves and warm shoes are here now for at least 5 months.

Time to get back to the fall garden clean-up. Soon I will be too comfortable indoors and will not want to be trimming plants outdoors. Gotta keep the momentum going. Spring is a mess if I leave plants un-trimmed.

Everything that needed to be transplanted or planted was done last Sunday. That’s good. Next on the list was all the ‘Marque Moon’ and all the red daylilies, but the ninebarks took a hit from the frost last night so I think I’ll do those first. I’d prefer not to cut them back after the leaves dry.

I also need to cut back the alpine currant (another gift from Dad 😍). And I need to rake up the seeds and shells under the bird feeder. Those will go to trash not compost because there are a lot of black oil sunflower shells.

There are still seed pods on the ‘Marque Moon’ and ‘Purple D’Oro’ daylilies. I pulled some tonight that had opened, but I think I will have to leave the ones that haven’t opened. So if I do get to trimming back the ‘Marque Moon’ daylilies, a few flower stalks will remain. I don’t think I will have that issue with the red daylilies. They didn’t form many seed pods this year.

One of the Aureomarginata hostas is gorgeous right now.

I want to keep that until it fully fades. We don’t always get color on the hostas but the past few years have been nice.

Equally pretty is our lawn right now. It looks like a quilt of leaves.

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I love that look! Too bad it comes with the cold of October. This year seems even earlier.

We did have a return arrival this week. The dark-eyed junkos are back. Not a good sign as far as being a bit early, but we do really enjoy them. I will try to get pics. They seem to be skittish right now so it may take a bit of stealthiness – lol! Laughing because I am far from stealthy!

I did get another fall candle yesterday. I tried it today. AWESOME! Way better than I expected! It is Melaleuka’s Warm Spiced Latte. Made the house smell so good tonight! Small pleasures to ease back indoors.

Lastly, I need to get propane for our little outdoor firepit tomorrow. I’ll write about that another day.

It did cross my mind that it would be fun to have our Guest in the Garden come for the weekend. He got a new sweater from my Mom ☺ But I don’t think he’d enjoy the cold. Hey, I won’t enjoy it if it’s almost freezing. But compost closes at 2pm, and there will be a lot to bring there this week.

Managing pests on the hibiscus and shamrocks

Managing pests on the hibiscus, amaryllis and shamrocks is an annual battle. I love those plants so I have made much effort to protect them from heading to compost. The birds pretty much handle pests during the spring and summer, but it is a bit of work when the plants come in for fall and winter.

I transition the plants from outdoors to the tile to the carpet over about a week. They stay on the tile a few days to get their initial acclimation to the indoor weather. During that time they do shed leaves (and some ladybugs, gnats, etc.) During that time I also spray the hibiscus and the amaryllis dirt with a mild solution of Sol-U-Mel. The shamrocks are still quite full so they get that treatment later.

Once the plants are ready to go to their indoor location for fall/winter, I put them on a plastic bag or thick piece of cardboard for a while. During that time they are kind of messy. The hibiscus drops leaves and buds and the shamrock stems begin to die back.

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All of that needs to be pulled off the plants, picked up and thrown away. Leaving that on and around the plants invites issues.

Throughout the fall and winter I also add one drop of dish detergent to a quart of water and use that on the soil to keep pests at bay.

By spring I am tired of the routine, and inevitably gnats are starting to appear. At first sign of frosty nights being gone, the plants go back outside. They die back a bit (the birds pluck the shamrock material for their nests) but then they come back stronger.

Sandals, make way for slippers

Now that the garden has started to wind down and the temperatures are kind of nippy, sneakers and slippers have replaced sandals.

This year it seems it happened a few weeks early. Usually I can get away with sandals well into the middle of October. But alas. Not this year.

Soon it will be boot season. I certainly have been tempted in the rainy weather we’ve been having. My bogs are still in the car from our trip up north, should the need arise.

While shopping with Mom last weekend, I picked up a new cozy pair of slippers. They are working just fine for indoor gardening while we wait for the rain to subside ☺

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Saturday becomes Sunday

Friday and Saturday this weekend we visited with my Mom. Way more fun than Saturday morning clean-up.

Today, however, we made time to clean the windows, swap places between a sedum and an asian lily, and plant the tulips. The sedum needed more real estate and the clump of lilies needed more protection from the wind. While shopping with Mom on Friday, I bought an extra bag of tulips – 15 ‘Angelique’ tulips. They are some of my favorites. So including the bag of 30 pink and purple tulips I had previously purchased, we planted 3 spots of 15 tulips each today. Hopefully they will bloom at least one year ☺

Just as we finished up, it started to drizzle, so no new outdoor garden pics for this post.

Indoors, the hibiscus is not so happy. This happens every fall when we bring it in. A lot of leaves turn yellow and fall off. But we did get two buds begin to bloom today.

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On a gloomy fall day outdoors, that was a treat.

It’s candle time again, too, and an outdoor scent was in order. While shopping with Mom, I picked this up.

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On a cloudy fall weekend, it warmed up the atmosphere.

Because it started to drizzle today, I didn’t get the ‘Marque Moon’ and the red daylilies cut back. That will have to happen next Saturday.

It’s all good.

Scarecrow picks in the ground

It’s October. The corn fields are drying. The sky is vivid blue (when it’s not totally cloudy). In a month we will be ripe for snow to fill the growing empty spaces in the garden. For now it is time to join in the fall merriment.

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And a 25 year old favorite:

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The one on the left may be ready for a “refresh” painting. On the list for next weekend.

Wait! That’s a daylily cluster!

Just had an awesome discovery – check it out.

Yes, that is a new cluster of daylilies! I looked online and it sounds like ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylilies re-bloom. I did not know that. This is our most mature ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylily and this is the first year it has re-bloomed. Very exciting!

Not another frost in the forecast for 10 days so maybe … at least some of the buds will have enough runway to bloom.

Very glad I harvested those seeds. Can’t wait to see if they revert to the parentage or create something entirely new.

Fall clean-up – week #1

Fall clean-up for week #1 is almost complete (sans pulling in the hummingbird feeders). Time invested so far: about 2 hrs.

It helped that our guest in the garden was there to lend moral support.

2 of the 3 clematis in back are now trimmed back, the daylilies in one garden are trimmed back, all of the asian lilies are trimmed back, the hostas that were fading and wilting are trimmed back, the irises that never bloom (I keep hoping-lol) are trimmed back, all of the remaining hosta scapes are trimmed back (goodness knows what I will do with all those Aureomarginata seeds!), and all of the linden branches that came down in the recent storm are picked up. 2 large bags packed to the gills.

It’s starting to look lighter in the garden. Kinda sad. But hey, some scarecrow garden picks might look good in those open spaces 😉

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Today all that’s left on the agenda is pulling in the hummingbird feeders, washing them, and putting them in storage.

Next week – trim back the ‘Marque Moon’ daylilies and the all the red daylilies.

Fall clean up begins

I need to begin fall cleanup today. It usually takes six Saturdays, and I am right on the edge of running late. Saturday is the day, because compost is open until 2 pm on Saturdays in the fall.

It’s always a little sad to start this process, but I cut everything back by hand (no weed whipping – yet) and if I don’t get going, it will be bitterly cold when the last bit needs to be done. (Experience talking here) Plus, there are those few things to be transplanted, or given to neighbors. And then there’s that bag of 30 tulips.

The past few falls it stayed nice enough that some of the hosta leaves were able to turn colors before they wilted from frost.

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So I will leave those for another week. I’ll start with the asian lilies, the fading hostas, and the daylilies whose leaves are browning up.

Yup. I need to get started. No more hanging on. It’s time. We have our “guest in the garden” this weekend. He can lend moral support. In 30 minutes.

If it were April/May, I’d be all over a day to get out in the garden early, but Brrr! Who wants to leave the comfy house with cozy throws to go out and cut down the garden?

It does help that part of the garden came in the house last night – the hibiscus, shamrocks and amaryllis. They are still in the entryway acclimating before I put them in their locations for the next 6 months. Maybe I’ll enjoy them inside for just a few more minutes.

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No? Okay, here we go. Once I get going it will be fun? Or at least familiar …

First frost

We are headed to our first frost tonight – 31°. Brrr! Then we’ll be in the mid 50’s during the daytime tomorrow. I am reminded that this is the time of year we Minnesotans, as my husband says, “hardy up”.

The squirrels are chubbing up. They get the whole “hardy up” thing. One of our white squirrels came to fill up early this morning.

I am thinking that only a week and a half ago we were comfortably taking a day cruise in Duluth (MN).

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It was only during the last 10 min or so when the wind picked up that I even pulled my hood up. Today I wore my new heavy jacket to work – and was glad for it!

Tonight the hibiscus and shamrocks and amaryllis came in. They will make their home inside now until probably early May.

And our “guest in the garden”, little 9 pound Sandy, came with his fall vest when I picked him up late this afternoon. Missy said he is already getting chilled when he goes out.

A cup of hot tea to chase away the chill, a candle going indoors to cozy things up, and a weekend walk in the middle of the day when it’s warmest will be the new norm pretty soon.

Fall planning begins

A few weekends ago I had time to sit on the patio, look at the garden areas, relax in the shade, and think. Our small pine tree, the one with the bird feeders, has become a little ecosystem. Finches and chickadees and cardinals and doves, squirrels of different colorings and even a mama squirrel comes by. Our garden had humingbirds and monarchs and bumble bees and dragonflies. All coming to feed and some stopping for quite a while. It is peaceful. I need that time, sometimes even with no phone to take pictures. Yes, that was very healthy.

During those few weeks, it seemed as if the stores were sometimes quite successful in getting fall merchandise out the door – in 92° weather! Scarecrows were showing up down the street!

But now fall is definitely here. Our linden is shedding yellow leaves, one or two at a time, but there is a growing pile on the lawn. I have gotten out my boxes of tea for hot beverages. The sweatshirts that sat in the closet over the summer are starting to come out.

In the garden, the daylilies and hostas are all done blooming.

The sedum are in full bloom.

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But our little tomato plant, although looking quite tired, is still bearing fruit. It had five waves of blooms!

Now my mind is beginning to consider plant moves – like the sedum that didn’t get much sun this year because the ‘Aureomarginata’ hostas have gotten so big.

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Poor thing! It needs much more spacious accommodations.

Some things have been fading, too, like the beautiful pink asian lilies that are getting crowded by hostas and sedum out front. We have had them for probably a dozen years. I don’t want to lose them, if possible.

It’s not quite scarecrow picks in the ground time at our house yet, but I’m thinking … What do I want to move around so next year is even better?

Fall was also starting on the north shore when we were there last week. One of the days we were up there we took a gondola ride. Check out the start of fall color!

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