Its a frosty morning in these parts, but our snow is sadly gone. It was washed away by the rains last week, however I am sure there will be more to come.

I received new bluebird houses and a feeder for Christmas, and we put them up a couple days ago. We had two really old houses already, and they were cleaned those up as well. It didn’t take long for a flock of bluebirds to come by and inspect the new digs as well as the remodeling of the old ones.

Perhaps the bluebirds of happiness will be harbingers of a wonderful 2021.

Cheers!

The garden is resting, of course. However, there is always activity in the yard. This crew came through the other day and nibbled on the clematis growing up a tree trunk. Time to put burlap around it.

The gray squirrels have perfected ingenious methods of getting to the birdseed.

Even though the gardens are resting, my garden club stays active decorating planters around town. This one is at the Police Station.

A week ago we had about 4-5 inches of snow. It was heavy and wet.

We lost a big limb off the willow

View of the full moon from the porch

Luckily, I got the outdoor lights up before it snowed

Sunrise on a snowy garden

Merry Christmas

We have had a wild couple of weather weeks. First the snow, then warm days in the 70’s and now reality has returned. Twenty-five degrees this morning. I took advantage of the warm days and got most of the garden clean-up done. Dahlias are now dug, dried and put away. The elephant ears and brugmansia are hibernating in the basement.

We always mow the meadow once a year

We had some tree work done

So everything is resting. No more blooms until spring but as usual there will still be beauty during the winter months.

Happy Halloween. It snowed yesterday. Not just a few flakes , but real snow – about 3-4 inches worth. There are still leaves on many of the trees so its a surreal world out in the garden this morning. Luckily I spent a lot of time last week working outside, cutting back perennials, tidying up the veggie garden etc. There is still work to do. It is 19 degrees this morning, but the snow will melt and we will be back into the 50’s and 60’s in a few days. Meanwhile….

And then……..

Tonight we set back the clocks, tomorrow is November. There is still much to do before winter sets in for good.

We got an inch of blessed rain the other day. We need more but it was wonderful to have a rainy day. The garden soldiers on through the drought with asters, mums, and other fall color. We have had visitors of course.

I refurbished some of my hypertufa troughs – silver saxifrages needed dividing

The fall foliage this year is glorious despite the drought. But it doesn’t seem to be lasting long. We get a quick blaze of color and then the leaves dry out and drop. For those who don’t live in New England – here’s a taste.

Well there goes summer. We had some light frost a few days ago and now have a few days of warmth – what we called Indian Summer when we were kids. Hummingbirds have gone, but we have seen bluebirds. Cardinals, chickadees, finches, nuthatches, titmice and “ahem” chipmunks are visiting the feeders. We put them out last week, but bring them in at night since the black bears are around and fattening up for winter. The drought continues, so I have had to resort to hand watering in order to keep many plants alive.

The meadow is in full autumn glory with goldenrod and many different asters. Butterflies and bees are stocking up for the season ahead as well.

And finally, it is apple season – so I baked a pie…..

It is mid-August, and we are really dry. It seems that the t-storms go north or south of us – very frustrating. The garden always looks a bit tired this time of year anyway, but it has been a challenge keeping plants alive through the heat and lack of rainfall. I have spent a lot of time hauling hoses around and trying to keep things watered. Weeding is not happening.

Hopefully the drought will be over soon, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy the rest of the summer and worry about the weeding and other chores in September.

Daylilies never disappoint. It has been a hot, dry summer so far but by dragging hoses around, I have been able to keep things looking good – and alive. I have had some of the lilies for a very long time and some are new and blooming for the first time in my garden. First the new ones:

And some older favorites:

A few other things are blooming now too

And finally a shout-out to reader Helen who stopped by to see my garden with her daughter Lisa today. Wonderful to meet you, Helen!

The Japanese Iris Ensata began blooming in late June and some are still going strong. Some have fewer blossoms than last year which means I probably need to dig them up and thin them out. Another chore for the fall to do list.

I also have some Asiatic lilies that have lovely color this year

A spotted visitor stopped by

And the daylily show has begun…

More later……

I was walking about my garden yesterday and noticed how many flowers look like fireworks. Here they are strutting their stuff for the 4th of July.

Daylilies and Iris Ensata posts are coming soon. Happy Independence Day! I hope you are outside enjoying your gardens and our beautiful country.