I haven’t posted in awhile as you may have noticed. We are spending some time away from winter. I eagerly await the gardening season in New England but its not quite there yet. I’ve been doing a bit of gardening though. I like to grow my own cilantro and have two containers of it which are doing quite well and have already been harvested a couple times.

I also have started some Brugmansia cuttings. You may remember the big beautiful yellow cultivar “Jean Pasco” which I have been growing for at least 10 years now and the photos I post in the summer. Every winter, I cut it back so I can get it into the basement for overwintering. I had over a dozen cuttings this year and gave some away, but I brought some to Florida with me to give to my daughter-in-law and some Florida friends. The cuttings are doing great.

I also received permission from our landlord to plant a couple of cuttings here. It will be fun to see what they look like next winter.

More later

The last few weeks have been pretty dull in the garden – except for the birds! We put out mealworms and the birds have been a delight to watch. We have had a flock of bluebirds 8-10 at a time, carolina wrens, woodpeckers, starlings (not my favorite), chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, juncos, cardinals, finches, sparrows and doves. What a treat. The feeders are just a few feet from the house so we can watch the birds up close. We had a bit of an ice storm as well and the world was all sparkly magic!

May the bluebirds of happiness visit your gardens as well in 2022.

Happy New Year

My apologies for the lapse in posting but I needed to resolve a few more computer and camera issues. I spent most of November cleaning up the garden, putting away patio and porch furniture and getting the new hot tub area ready for the tub. We decided to purchase one so that we could soak our creaky bones and achy muscles. We have had it a month and its great. I think this gardener will really enjoy the hard work of spring a lot more now. In the meantime – ahhh some R&R.

Partially cut back garden in November

The mowed meadow

We put mealworms out for the bluebirds and wow did that bring them in. We have had a flock of 7-8 of them every day for weeks now. The feeders are right outside the living room window – only about 6 feet away.

The above photo is the view at the end of my street. Some snow is expected this weekend so perhaps we will have a white Christmas. TIme will tell

I think I’m back in business. I am finally able to post again after a few weeks of computer and cellphone issues. I have a few nice foliage pix to share with you, but not many flowers. We had some frost, so the dahlias are dug, dried and put away for the winter. I cut back the brugmansia and that has been brought inside. Most of the perennials are cut back now too. The meadow has been mowed, porch and patio furniture put away, and pots emptied out. We have a few more chores to do outside and then winter can come.

Soon the snows will come and the garden will rest. I can use one too!.

No, I haven’t disappeared. I have had some computer issues all month and finally picked up my new computer this morning. I can finally post again. October was lovely in Massachusetts. The foliage was a bit dull, but the weather was warm. We didn’t get frost until a couple nights ago. We had a big nor’easter and the wind blew most of the leaves off the trees, and we lost a big willow as well. I spent the month cutting back some perennials and moving some others. I was able to transplant the Japanese Iris into the old willow circle, and I hope for a beautiful display in the spring. There are still a few flowers around – dahlias were blooming a couple of days ago, but the frost finally got them. Here is a taste of October in my garden.

Oh, what lovely weather. The cool nights and pleasant low humidity days are here. I have decided to attack the “willow circle”. This is an area where we used to have a willow tree. The tree was rotting and had become a hazard, so we took it down a long time ago. The area around the stump is quite wet and there are some iris and daylilies and tons of weeds growing up around it. I thought it might be nice to remove the plants that are there now and put all my Ensata Iris there since those really like wet conditions. I began digging yesterday. Whew, hard work. I will relocate some of the plants and give away the rest.

The garden is taking on an end of the season look. There are still some things blooming though

The leaves are starting to change. The miracle of autumn begins.

This is not a time for my garden to shine. I haven’t weeded or deadheaded. I have hardly even looked at the plants. Its either been hot or rainy, or we have been away for a few days. I know the cool weather will return, and I will have ambition again. There are plans to dig out an overgrown area, divide and relocate some Japanese iris, and remove some other under performers. Whether these plans make it to fruition or not depends on my creaky old shoulders, the cooperation of the weather, and if I feel like bothering with the whole project. Some gardening years are like that. We will see.

In the meantime, I ran outside for a few pix the other day between storms. At least, I haven’t had to drag hoses around, and in the grand scheme of things I don’t have anything to complain about.

So that’s about it for now. The asters and mums will start blooming soon, and hopefully I’ll have some autumn garden projects to share as well.

Its been hot and humid the last few days and feeling pretty tropical. My garden is beginning to look like a jungle since I haven’t bothered weeding or deadheading or much else lately. So although I may have retreated indoors to the AC for a bit, my plants don’t seem to mind the juicy air. In fact, some of them are pretty darn happy.

The dahlias are doing fine. I still have daylilies, shasta daisies, heliopsis, and phlox blooming too. I have plenty of color, now I just need a little pleasant weather so I can get out and enjoy the garden.

Wow – July got away from me. Gardening wasn’t the best, it rained nearly every day. And then it rained some more. At least I didn’t have to drag out the hoses all month. The daylilies were (and are still) beautiful. I picked blueberries and raspberries for weeks. The birds have been wonderful. Wrens and bluebirds are nesting again and feeding their young. Orioles are hitting the grape jelly big-time and hummingbirds are everywhere. Summertime and the livin’ is easy. I’ll weed later.

And lastly, this guy. There used to be really nice little rock garden plants in this planter. Used to be……

One more grouping of daylilies. I couldn’t resist. See you in August!

Have you ever noticed how many plants have flowers that look like fireworks?

The ensata was a stretch but it was too beautiful not to share.