Late-Autumn Nature Walk

A week ago, before the cold had settled us in the house for cookie baking, we were able to take the kids out around a local park to run through the golden rod, see an old wasps nest and find where the deer sleep. The kids loved it, but I think my husband enjoyed sharing it with them even more. Other highlights included letting the boy ramble through the woods, the girls throw rocks in the creek and all of them have their first wintergreen berries in the woods.

Wispy golden rod seeds in the sun

Girls studying the egg sack on a stalk

Hope you find time to enjoy the last sunny moments of autumn if you are in the northern part of the world. What a nice season it as been!

End of the Month View ~ November 2011

Hydrangea 'Limelight' by the backyard fence

November has been a busier one in the garden and, having thoroughly enjoyed it, I am sad to see it coming to an end. The fall is such a forgiving time to be in the garden up rooting things, tinkering here and there, creating new schemes that no one else will know about until next year.  And of course there were the bulbs.

It has been a beautiful fall, very warm and temperate. A cold front is blowing in this evening and we are expected to have a little snow tomorrow.  Knowing the changing weather was coming motivated me to get out in the breeze this afternoon for some more seedling thinning and weeding. My fingers were freezing, but it was really nice to be out!

Hill Garden on Thanksgiving Day

Edging out another foot of sod from the front of the garden beds made for plenty of labor at the beginning of the month. I love a clean edge at this time of year, as well as in the spring. It does not always happen, but I enjoy it when it does. I planted more creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) in the new area, as I really like it as an edging plant. It is evergreen, which is probably my favorite reason for growing it besides its flowers in May.

Allium tuberosum on the Hill

The Circle Lawn

 Much of my seedling thinning is happening on the Shade Path (the area near the gate in the photo above), and in the curb planting strips across the sidewalk. Columbine (Aquilegia) and forget-me-nots (Mysotis) seedlings are everywhere.

Clematis 'Fairy Dust' still hanging on to a few last flowers

Cherry Corner garden

This picture does a great job showcasing the improvement that can be made in daylily (Hemerocallis) foliage by pruning it after flowering. The large green clump was pruned to the ground with hedge shears, while the pile at the lower left corner was not. Quite the difference.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' under the weeping Cherry tree

I love how it brings out the red in the Cherry bark

View of the Shade Path to the back of our property

The evergreens are coming in to their own. Most moments the garden is looking more brown and black, but there are a few of those sunny moments left that illuminate the left over color. Here at the front is that famous pair again, Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) and native aster Doellingeria unbellata. I spend a couple afternoons edging out some more sod from the beds on this side of the garden also. I filled in mostly with Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'.

Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)

New Curb strip planting from May

 More plant filling work in the new curb areas, hoping to make spring a little easier. The hillside by the fence is finally starting to look like something after three-and-a-half years. I am going for a tapestry effect, just throwing all sorts of plants at it hoping something will grow. The Ajuga reptans at the back seems to be fitting the bill.

Thanks to Helen at The Patient Gardener for hosting the End of the Month View. I love how her posts walk through the garden, taking stock of improvements, etc. So, here is my first go at her concept.

The best tree on our property...

Our Thankful tree from November

I had to take a few pictures to share before we took down our Thankful tree this week. My kids have loved this activity for November, and it has been infinitely enjoyable seeing what things come out of their hearts and minds. They woke up most mornings saying, "We need to do our thankful tree! We need to do our thankful tree!" But I think it was really me who took the most from it: a gentle reminder every morning not to take our life for granted, even with all of its twists and turns, sticky hands and dirty laundry. Everything is a gift from the Lord God after all.

We planted it in the living room by the girls door

You can guess my favorites :)

Simple Bulb Planting Tips

As I worked on planting our 800 new bulbs this fall, I thought about a few tips I use and thought another lover-of-spring might find them useful.

There are two ways to plant a quantity of bulbs: many in larger holes or singly in smaller holes. I think the choice should be made based on the effect you desire in a given location. At the moment, I tend to like grouping my larger bulbs (tulips, muscari) and plant smaller bulbs singly (crocuses, iris reticulata).

If you decide to plant in larger holes, then I have found it useful to mark the bulb locations with plant stakes. Then stand back and take a look at what you have marked.

Small plant stakes mark the new bulb locations

This is all about visualization: think back to your garden in April and May (pictures are a huge help!), think about the colors, the forms, what was lacking. Where do you want these bulbs to live? Move your stakes around as you look at it from different angles.

 Once you have decided where they will live, it is time to commit and start digging. When planting in the midst of an already full garden bed, maneuvering the excess dirt becomes one of the biggest problems. My favorite way to solve this problem is by using a piece of plastic to hold the dirt.

Plastic holding the planting dirt

Using plastic enables me to even place it on top of my lower perennials (in this case creeping phlox). Another benefit is that if I happen to dig up some old bulbs in the process of planting new ones, I will see them left on the plastic instead of losing them on top of the dirt somewhere. And when I am done placing the bulbs, I can pick up the plastic and dump the fill right back in the hole with one motion.

Japanese knife made quick work of planting 100 crocuses in the Front Woodland

And when it comes to planting bulbs singly, especially small bulbs (though I also planted a few tulips this way), my Japanese soil knife made it swift work even amongst tree roots.  I think that planting some of the bulbs closer together gives it a more naturalized look, even while you are covering a larger area.