Early November Garden

November 3rd, 2010

A touch of frost this morning, but not enough to damage any of the annuals, - the cosmos and the nasturtium keep blooming, along with the last of the roses and a magnificent display of chrysanthemums.

An Abraham Darby rose has passed through all its splendour, but still it's tattered  petals cling in amongst the leaves after three weeks of blooming.

Two years ago this rose barely survived the winter storms, but has come back beautifully.  With the prospect of another cold winter we will certainly do our best to protect it from the winds, hoping for a thick blanket of snow before the frost comes.  I would be so sad to lose it.....

Here is the garden as we came to the end of October, a glorious month.

The whole blooming canvas, and some of its parts.

The garden is a delight, but when we cast our eyes to the far distance we see the

whole valley in a gold and russet glow, and down in the orchard

the trees arch across the aisles and create a cathedral effect

that is beautiful, peaceful and holy.

Before the rains come it is time to pile on the mulch and look forward to next year's beauty
(for which I am so grateful)

Garden, October 21st, 2010

Garden Diary

Here we are, past the middle of October, and still the garden shimmers and shines in the sunlight, packed tightly with exuberant colour in the chrysanthemums and the remnants of the summer flowers and roses.

Yesterday I planted tulips in the back bed and along the west end of the house, and today I planted narcissus in the cutting bed by the patio, - used up all the bonemeal and luckily found the bulb planter.

The last full bloom and a little bud on the Abraham Darby, - will the weather hold until the bud opens?

The pretty yellow rose by the inner path.

And the shastas tucked away at the back.

Grocery store roses, - so hardy and so beautiful.

and the older yellow rose that grows along the roadway.

The sumac that Charles peers at threateningly because of its wandering ways.

but so vibrant in the fall.

The white rose

and the Prairie Princess

Some shaggy Mums

the scarlet maples are beginning to lose their vivid leaves

and here is the last of the sunflowers

Despite all this glorious bloom I know it is time to start thinking of mulching and preparing for the first frost and the end of Indian Summer

These are the days when birds come back,

A very few, a bird or two

To take a backward look

These are the days when skies put on

The old, old sophistries of June -

A blue and gold mistake.

O fraud that cannot cheat the bee

Almost thy plausibility

Incites my belief,

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear

and softly, through the altered air

Hurries a timid leaf.

O, sacrament of summer days

O, last communion through the haze

Permit a child to join,

Thy sacred emblems to partake,

Thy consecrated bread to break,

Taste thine immortal wine.

Emily Dickinson

Indian Summer

October 7th, 2010

Fall is drawing in, but even though the Mum's have not yet added their full colour to the garden it is still looking quite appealing.

I post these pictures silently, but a little browsing will reveal which of the sturdy summer and fall flowers soldier on, and the fact that we have removed the sweet pie vines to the compost heap and the sunflower heads to a little pile on the lawn that attracts the small birds.  Soon we will move them along the fence.

You have to look carefully to see the answer to the problem of weeds and grass growing in the garden path, - a vintage tarp from trucking days, cut up and tucked along the pathway.

Tomorrow I will cut flowers to decorate the church for Thanksgiving, - if it is sunny I will have to battle the bees in the large aster plant - at any one time there are probably between 217 and 263 bees, gathering honey......

Pay particular attention to the one lovely foxglove that deigned to bloom this year, - we will have to protect the other eleven through the coming winter, along with the canterbury bells that have put in their first year and are prepared to ring out all over the garden next summer!