An interlude

I garden in New England. The weather does some some crazy things sometimes. It was in the 60’s over the weekend, and then yesterday, we had snow squalls. The little January thaw was wonderful… everyone was outside taking walks, and basking in the sunshine.

We took a walk along the Nashua River near our house

I was able to fix the deer fence, put out some mole repellent, and take down the Christmas decor… all without freezing my fingers off. The icebergs in the driveway melted away and grass was visible again. It was a treat. The bluebirds visited too. .

Of course we are expecting snow again on Saturday. Such is the weather in New England.

Winter is not done with us yet.

January 1, 2020 by grammapenny

Happy New Year

Happy 2020 from my garden to yours. There have been many visitors to the garden the last few days. There’s always lots going on even though the garden is at rest. May the bluebirds of happiness visit you often in 2020.

December 7, 2019 by grammapenny

December

It snowed… a lot… 17 inches worth. There was quite a frenzy to complete all the garden clean-up before the storm, and we finished just in time. Now we have winter wonderland for a few days until the next storm washes it away.

Thank goodness I was able to get the Christmas lights put out before it snowed

We won’t be dining on the porch for awhile

After 2 1/2 days of snowing, the sun came out

I got a lot of indoor work done during the storm though…here’s one of my decorations. Merry Christmas to all.

November 15, 2019 by grammapenny

Mid November

It was such a beautiful fall. We lingered in the warmth; we admired the still blooming flowers. Then boom… it got cold.. .real cold. So the clean-up is still not done. I cut back most of the stuff that gets mushy – irises and daylilies. But there is still much to do

Most of what is left is the woody stuff, and I will leave some of that until spring.

The meadow got mowed just in time

Although the flowers are gone, the frost on the foliage is delightful

Decorative globes shine in the morning light

This is another reason to grow Epimedium – wonderful color on the foliage in late autumn

And finally a spectacular sunset from the other night…

No snow yet..but its coming.

October 31, 2019 by grammapenny

Mid-Late October

The growing season is about over in my neck of the woods. There are still mums and asters and a few other things blooming, but I’ve begun the seasonal garden clean-up. The garden looked like this in mid-October.

Smokebush, monkshood and Sedum Autumn Joy

The colors changed some more as the weeks progressed

Red blossomed pineapple sage still blooming in the corner of the new veggie bed

This big fella wandered through the yard one morning

These 4 deer (look carefully) made an appearance

My favorite visitor sniffing the air – she knew there were critters around

As you can see here, I have begun cutting back the daylilies and I moved a trellis against the fence

It has been a beautiful autumn. There’s always lots of work to do when putting the garden to bed for the winter, but with all the visitors and pretty colors, the chore has been more enjoyable.

October 11, 2019 by grammapenny

The great autumn veggie garden renewal

The veggies were amazing this year. However, the retaining wall separating the two tiered raised bed had been eaten away by ants and was rotting away. What to do? Garden club friend Celia was replacing a retaining wall and had stones she did not need! So we rescued them.