Thursday, October 9, 2008

Beautiful Sunshine & Lots of Garden Clean-Up


It's a stunning day - 20C - sunshine and shirt sleeves - a real gift this time of year. I've been trying to strike a balance between leaving food for the creatures (seed heads) and having a somewhat less-than-back-destroying-spring by cleaning up a fair bit in the garden this fall. I find it so sad taking stuff down before it looks revolting, but the garden is just too large to get it all winter-ready on one w/e. Anyone who knows me well, will not be surprised that I've got 500 bulbs on order. Another reason for the clean-up - I'm looking for spots where I can plant them. What possessed me? (Perhaps: The pretty bulb pictures, the thought of spring, knowing how gorgeous they're going to be....all of that - and I'll continue to remind myself as I dig holes around the garden over the next few weeks.)

Helen has put up the video of the begonia pot dismemberment on our beginner gardener site. (http://www.learningtogardenwithbarbara.com/) In it, I blather on for almost 5 minutes, yanking out plant after plant from the pot, until I discover it is full of wasps. Helen, knowing a good Youtube moment, kept the camera running.

Just a few snaps of the garden today - complete with compostable Costco bag. Can't believe the Hydrangea quercifolia is starting to colour already. Some colour in the Japanese Maples, photos to follow when they're fabulous - they'll be stunning over the next few weeks. And, a sweet little fall-blooming Allium is just starting to bloom. All in all - a perfect day in the garden.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your 500 bulbs call for some big, wide planting holes for efficiency. : )
I am still tucking bulbs into the ground, and the spring images are definitely what keep me going. As I plant the brown lumps, I am seeing a colourful array of petals before me. I hope that the busy squirrel sticks to gathering his spruce cones.

Gail said...

I just found a pink tulip collection at a Big Box store that had to come home with me! It will be lovely this spring...if I find the ground to plant them in! I did so much enjoy your video !

gail

Gardenista said...

There is one thing about bulbs - one can NEVER have too many. I hope you have a beautiful spring garden. It's the thought of the spring colors that makes all that bulb-burying so fun.

Barbarapc said...

N.S. I'm going to cut some more hosta down so I can see where those nice planting trenches can go - when it's cold and blowy - I refer to the package photo as frequently as possible.
G. Pink tulips are so pretty - thanks for the kind words on our video!
G. You know I feel exactly the same way - although at about bulb #475, I'm often questioning my sanity. Looking forward to sharing the photos with everyone!