Archives for November 2014

A few days ago it looked like this in the backyard.

But we have had three mild days.  Today has the highest temperatures.

Now it looks like this again.

So I had one last chance to finish up the winter preparations.

Skoot is a great product for protecting plants from rabbit damage.  I dilute it with 1:1 ratio with water, so it will spray well.  If it’s not runny enough it will clog, and spray drips, not a nice spray.

I treated all the exposed vines, the younger trees, the tree peonies, some smaller shrubs, and even some evergreens.

Then I remembered I still had some parsley and beets in the garden.

So I washed them up.  Chopped up the parsley for the freezer, and I’ll cook some beets later this week.

Now the yard is ready for winter.

Too bad I’m not.

 

As we end the gardening season, we have to prepare the yard for another season – winter.

The deck furniture is all stored away.  Except there’s no room for this table.

It will just be covered with a tarp during the winter.

The patio chairs are stored; the pots all emptied and put in the shed.

New covers for the rhododendrons.  The snow load and wind do a lot of damage to them.

The pond is covered, and the heater ready to be plugged in.

As long as there is an open spot in the water, the fish should survive the cold months.

I’ve put burlap on the shrubs that the rabbits seem to enjoy.

And covers on the younger trees.

I decided to protect the silver lace vine, the wisteria and the kiwi too.  It would be a shame if the rabbits chewed them off at the bottom.

The rain barrels are tucked underneath the deck.

We got this all done on a Tuesday.

By Friday it looked like this.

From this…

to this.

The yard was ready, but I wasn’t.

It is November 14th, and this is my new reality.

I wasn’t ready for so much, so fast.

But it’s here.

I have no further comments.

 

 

 

The colours of fall are already behind us.  Here are a few reminders of the autumn splendour in the garden.

The fading perennials too, can have one last blaze of glory before winter’s call.

 

Even seedpods can be beautiful.

These are from the baptisia or false indigo.

The clematis pods are almost exotic.

This is a magnolia seed pod.  I tried to deadhead all the finished blooms, but a few escaped me.  Inside the pods are these bright red seeds.

Castor Bean seeds are other-worldly.

These are from the ligularia.  Kind of sculptural in their own way.

Tiny little green knobs on the crocosmia.

Always something in God’s nature to delight and enjoy, if only we take notice.

 

This is a naked barberry bush.  Some creatures have completely stripped it.

I have seen this on another barberry, and some other shrubs as well.

I never see any bugs, but they are definitely leaving their mark.  Earwigs?  Grasshoppers?  Caterpillars?

The red berries certainly show up now, but I loved this bush for the purple leaves.  I really hope the leaves grow back next year.

And I’ll have to be on the lookout for the first signs of damage.