Flowerpots' Last Hurrah

We had some good times this summer, these flowers and I.

 

[These pictures were taken about a month ago, before hard frost had set in.]

 

 The succulent boat in front sent up alien stems with strange little blooms on them.

 

The geraniums (middle) were awash with color at several different points, despite uneven watering.

The herb container didn't do much of anything, actually.

It smelled nice for a few months.

And would you look at that asparagus fern?

Incredible! It almost makes the dead bellflowers look picturesque (or so I tell myself.)

The round blue pot in front obviously gave up quite some time ago.

These were pretty awesome while they lasted.

Now in death, they too have taken on alien life forms.

 

I might have mentioned it [twenty times] before, but the decision to get our yard done pretty much sucked the gardening life out of me there at the end of the summer.

I didn't have access to water outside for a good month and a half while the yard was graded and the sprinkler system put in. This all coincided with a decent heat wave. By the time the thought occurred to me that I could actually water these containers with a pitcher of house water, it was too late for most of the flowers.

 

I did finally get them all winterized a few weeks ago (before hard frost killed off the succulents.)

Go me!

The succulents now live inside as houseplants, where the lack of water will probably not come as a shock to their systems at all. I couldn't willfully kill off the asparagus ferns, so in the end I planted them all in my vegetable garden, bottom terrace, front and center.

They are still green, even after 2+ weeks of below freezing temperatures!

 

All the flowerpots are now tucked safely away in the shed.

I have high hopes that next year will be better all around.

We'll have a lawn that we can walk on!

That makes a pretty good starting place, I'd say.

Winterizing Chore List

I just heard that there's supposed to be some snow NEXT WEEK! AAAHH!
So, here's what all needs to go down before that happens:

[Update: So, most of this got done just last Saturday (11/17) after all the snow had melted!


1. Remove all cushions from outside chair/bench and store in shed.  DONE!
2. Store grill in shed?  DONE!
3. Remove flowers from pots and store pots in shed.  DONE!
4. Clear out hoses and store in shed.  DONE!
   a. cover outside faucets with the styrofoam things.  DONE!
5. Finish pooper-scooping the slope (for the last time!) 
      **Not done. It has been so rainy that the hill is a muddy mess. I haven't attempted to get back up there to finish this job. Maybe in the spring.
6. Finish clearing out the garden, including tomato cages to shed. DONE!
7. Plant garlic in garden.  Done by my Joy School kiddos: 10/18/12
8. Plant bulbs.  See post: The Great Bulb Countdown!
9. Clean up/put away any remaining tools/toys/bikes, etc.  DONE!
10. Mulch back flowerbed, new raspberry bed, around the dogwood in back of shed flowerbed.
     **Still need to mulch. Maybe tomorrow if I get a chance?
11. Plant seeds from Collette on slope, wherever else.
     **Didn't plant any seeds yet. Probably could just go out on the garden wall and scatter some to the wind; see where they end up.

Let's get on it!

First Snowfall

Snow came!

We hadn't finished our winterizing chores yet. EEK!

Everything was covered up....for a day or two at least.

sumac 

slope grasses

those blooms are still trying, despite the cold! 

You can see how much it has already melted off--this was just a few hours later.

Yes, this also illustrates that we still need to finish winterizing! 

 Oregano and basil

Mockorange loveliness.

Winterizing

Since we had our first snowfall this week (even though it didn't stick) we decided it was high time to get our outdoor stuff ready for winter. Jason boarded up the rest of the empty spaces on the shed--mainly the big back door and attic wall above the porch--and officially declared it done for the season. We did stow the wheelbarrow and lawn mower in there, mainly to get them out of the garage.  He also got all of his extra wood stacked behind the shed, and his tools back in the garage. Jacob's bike and helmet were stored in the garage as well.

Other little chores we did:
** Took garden hoses off and hung them in shed (on newly installed hose holder hooks)
** Picked up last remnants of yard and gardening stuff still out--green plastic mesh fencing, sprinkler heads, etc., and stored them in the shed.
** Pulled the dead flowers out of all pots and put the pots, along with the one plant stand, in the shed.
** Removed cushions from outside rocking chair and stored in shed. I hope the cushions will be okay out there and not get too damp. I may regret that decision.
** Spread mulch on back flower bed around the new shrub and along the back where I planted all the bulbs.

Winterizing takes on a whole new meaning when you get feet of snow, instead of an occasional storm. Anything left out will be buried all winter, so we have tried to be extra careful to pick up any and all odds and ends.

Guess we're about ready for snow to come for real!

Now we just need to get the snow tires back on our vehicles.

Garden put to bed

While Jason's parents were here, they helped clear out the garden, including picking all the rest of the tomatoes.

I was going to put them on a table in the garage, covered by newspaper, and all that, but as I procrastinated that task I discovered them ripening up in the box. So last Wednesday I went through, picked out all the ripe or almost ripe ones, threw away all the rotten ones I could find, and left the rest to do their thing. I came out with about 1/3 of the box, with probably another 1/4 trashed due to rottenness. So not too bad. I know what to do with ripe tomatoes! So once this batch gets completely ripe, I'll get them processed and ready for tomato sauce, along with the other 3 bags-worth in the freezer. 

All cleared out. The tomatoes you see left on the dirt were all half-rotten anyway, so we left them there as compost.

Only things left are the nasturtium on top and the oregano bottom left. 

In lieu of an actual compost pile, we threw all the vines and such down the side slope.

Maybe if nothing else they'll help keep the weeds down.

Winterizing

After another long week of rain, we've had sunny skies yesterday and today. So we finally could get some winterizing done!
1. Pulled out all dead (or nearly dead) garden plants and put them in the compost pile.
* we found one more baking-sized potato as we cleared out the one box! *
2. Mowed lawn and leaves, and added the mixture to garden boxes.
3. Put away all hoses, and random gardening stuff left out (baskets, etc.).
4. Took down camp chairs from porch and put in garage.
5. Took down/threw away remains of the wading pool.

Just need to get the hyacinths planted, and perhaps some last weeding done and we'll be all set!