It Was a Good Year

Here in my CT zone 6 garden, the beginning of November typically finds me up to my knees in fallen leaves and frost blackened foliage.  All my beloved tropicals have either been tucked into the garage awaiting a move into the house or long departed to the big compost pile in the sky.

Not this year.  All of the pictures here were taken on the evening of November first.  As temperatures hovered in the mid 60s F (unusual for this time of year), I strolled around the garden with my camera  capturing what I figured would be the last shots of the season.  And I was right.  A hard freeze Sunday night dealt the final blow to what had been an exceptionally long garden season.

The end of garden season always leaves me with mixed emotions.  Part of me is sad to see it all go-especially the mixed container gardens I spent so much time designing and nurturing.  But another part of me is relieved that I don't have to be a slave to it all anymore.

Don't get me wrong, by most standards garden season had been over for a few weeks.  Compared to July this view of my patio looks downright bleak.  However, I can't remember a year when I had bananas, Cannas and elephant ears still standing (and looking relatively decent) on November first.  Last year, a hard freeze on October 12th took everything out early.

So here you have it, the end of garden season 2013 at Idyll Haven.  All things considered, it was a good year.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All that remains is the equivalent of a couple of weekends of dreary cleanup.  Now that clocks have been ratcheted back, weekends are the only time I have for garden activities and hiking has been taking up a large chunk of that time.  November can be bleak but my calendar is quickly filling up with fun stuff like a full moon hike, a Thanksgiving celebration with the best of friends and an out of town high school class reunion.

 

Somehow it will all get done.  I continue to struggle to keep all the balls in the air, but lately that struggle has less of a sense of urgency and more a sense of enjoyment.  Just be sure to call before stopping by,  Especially if you think there may be a chance that you will need to use the bathroom.

 

Yes, it was a good year.

 

Sue~

 

 

 

 

Notable Exceptions

Last Friday I finally finished garden cleanup for the year.  I still have a few plants to move into basement storage and a garage bay to clean and reorganize but that can wait a week or two.  For now I need a break from all things garden related. 

Unfortunately my buddy Nick was recently diagnosed with a compressed disc.  Throughout his life he's occasionally had back problems and over the past year the episodes have become more frequent.  Last week we had to make a trip to the ER vet.  Monday was the x-ray appointment.  Tomorrow we have an appointment with Dr. Amy, Nick's holistic vet.  I'm hoping that accupuncture and chiropractic combined with a limitation of his activities (my boy has always been a climber and a jumper), will keep him comfortable and moving without expensive and invasive surgical intervention.  Please keep your fingers crossed.

Anyway, on one of my forays outside over the weekend I noticed a few shrubs were still sporting some eye catching foliage.  Now that just about everything is fifty shades of brown, any color stands out like a beacon.




Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey'

'Little Honey' wide angle view.

Zenobia pulverulenta 'Woodlander's Blue'

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst'

Spiraea thunbergii 'Ogon'

Hypericum 'Blue Velvet' with the everblooming Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice'

Unknown Leucothoe from Fairweather Gardens

Abelia x grandiflora 'Confetti'

Hypericum x moserianum 'Tricolor'

Some years I wait too long to decorate the urns for the holidays and the soil freezes.  I ran out of time on Sunday but wanted to at least get the container next to my side door decked out.  Using fresh foliage from the garden can sometimes be a challenge.  So far I like this theme of using spent Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' flowers as a focal point.  What do you think?

Time to break out the eggnog and deck those halls!


Sue~

   

Fleeting Fall Foliage

Hurricane Sandy whipped through the northeast last night stripping hundreds of thousands of people of their homes and/or belongings.  In CT we have now experienced three storms in just 14 months that have caused catastrophic damage to property.  Storms of a magnitude and scope like we have never experienced.  Mother Nature can certainly be a real bitch when she wants to be, that's for sure.  My heartfelt sympathies go out to everyone who found themselves on the wrong side of Sandy.

In advance of the storm, I made a point to do a walk around and grab a few shots of fall color in the garden.  As I suspected, Sandy hastened the demise of foliage season.  What you see here is now a distant memory.

Beautiful fall color of the Sourwood (Oxydendron arboreum)

Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake')

Amsonia hubrichtii

Enkianthus campanulatus

Physocarpus opulifolius 'Summer Wine'

Neighbor's maple



Acer palmatum 'Kinran'

Sue~