It has a been a balmy autumn in these parts but that is about to end. We had a hint of frost the last couple of nights but the real thing is coming this week. Sigh. We have been scurrying about trying to finish up the exterior painting on some steps we rebuilt, putting wood preservative on the new porch and finishing up some landscaping. Landscaping around here has a domino effect. Let’s see: if I move that plant over there , then this plant can go in that spot and then I can move that other plant…. it goes on for awhile. Here are a some photos of the declining garden, pre-freeze. There is lots of color even on a gray day.
Dahlia photo is a bit washed out – but the true color shows in a vase
Since we have a new view from the porch we thinned the lilacs and are beginning to hack away the forsythia – it will be a long project
All that stuff to the far left has got to go
Improved view from the porch
Lastly, one of my daylilies rebloomed … a first for me.
Gramma Penny's Garden 
I haven’t been by your blog for a while, and your garden looks fabulous! The new porch, daylilies, dahlias and hoicking the lilac bush – lots of hard work and dedication there. Enjoy your efforts, and the fall foliage to come!
Thanks Karen.. I just peeked at your spot.. love the gaura.. I have a couple as well and really love them
I have a lot of last minute projects as well. Wish I had planted my bulbs sooner!
Your garden looks really beautiful and so autumnal. We don’t really get that down here. We have some time before we truly have to get ready for winter, but hope to get started a little early, so we aren’t out at night with flashlights trying to beat the frost/freeze.
Thanks Rebecca.. I have often gone out with flashlights to cover plants!
Lovely to see the colour emerging on the trees. It’s a mixed blessing is autumn.
Thanks. It sure is a mixed blessing but I do love the change of seasons.
I don’t get to see autumn colors much as New Zealand is covered in lots of pine trees (they grow super fast here so are grown to export). Dahlias are always a wonderful pick-me-up. What a great garden and ideas.
What is that spruce in the middle of the second picture? We have no native spruce here.
Shouldn’t forsythia wait untill after bloom to get pruned back? Do you leave year old canes?
Hi Tony.. the spruce is a blue spruce. Gorgeous tree.. we are trying to keep the bittersweet vine from overtaking it. We need to hack back the forsythia when the leaves are off it so its an “easier” job. There is also grapevine, bittersweet and virginia creeper all tangled up in there too. We will cut most of it to the ground and mow it to keep it in check but we will leave an 8-10 ft wide swath that we will cut to about 6 feet tall. That won’t bloom much next spring but that’s the way it is. The pix I posted don’t show the true length and depth of the “hedge” . I will document the process when we start in on it.
Blue spruce is one of the very few we have here. Dwarf Alberta spruce is popular, but it is not really a spruce ‘tree’. There are Sitka spruce and what I believe to be Engelmann spruce in a few gardens in town, and one black spruce at the farm, but they are very rare. Even blue spruce is uncommon. It does well in some areas. There is one here that is so icky that I will probably cut it down.
When I need to cut back overgrown forsythia, I also do it in winter because it easier to see what I am doing, and it is probably less stressful to the plant. When they are that overgrown, they do not bloom well anyway. Once they are under control, I can prune them after bloom. It is not something that comes up often. They are about as rare as Sitka spruce here.
Beautiful landscapes ! some really amazing shots.
Have a great week ahead
Thank you. I should be taking pictures today with the beautiful blue sky