Well, the work in the gardens is mostly a clean-up process for the veggie plots; however, the flower garden gets a different treatment--I will remove many of the tall and stalky plant stems, but leave the dead debris of the perennials to protect them from the winter freezing. The unsightly debris will then be removed in the spring when there is little chance of frost. It will look messy and unsightly, but it's an eyesore that I feel I can tolerate for the sake of the survival of the perennials. In an overview pic of the flower garden you will see the dead and dying. I shan't leave all this organic material where it stands, but rather will remove selected bits here and there as soon as the ground dries a bit. There are a hand full of pretty sad-looking flowers that are hanging on by the skin of their teeth-- There are two hollyhocks still blooming There is a nepeta at the base of the great Pampas Grass plant A few wayward geranium blooms left from their second flowering A few protected Oost-Indische kers (Tropaeolum) plants have avoided the frosting and still are producing blooms This Phlox just will not give up And finally the Verbena has just a few more blooms that are indeed fading very fast The flower garden in all it's faded glory getting ready for it's hibernation And the new veggie plot fast asleep. There are still Swiss chard and Perpetual spinach for fresh winter eating. All the way in the back the 'green manre'(Phacelia) is, crazily enough, still blooming, and on a sunny day still drawing bees. The Phacelia nearer to the camera has no blooms, and I shall let it stand until it begins to die then I will lift the plants and lie them on the surface of the soil
Those hollyhocks are lovely Sjoerd - so nice to still have colour in your garden at this time of year. Sadly the frost has killed off nearly everything here. Even the autumn flowering cyclamen have been affected by this dreadful weather. I do have lots of berries on bushes though for the birds to feed on so they brighten the place up a bit. :-D Your veggie garden looks nice and cosy and ready for winter.
Beautiful pictures! Thanks too for the word about how to treat perenials. I started tidying up my flower beds after frosts here but it's since been very mild, so I've left a lot of stuff, unsure of what to take out, trim back or leave!
You take such wonderful care of your gardens and they thank you by producing all those beautiful flowers and more food than you can eat. Many of my plants are still in bloom too, but they are so tired looking. Sometimes I think I can hear them begging for a good frost so they can finally go to sleep and rest for a while.
Thank you for the nice comments about the lortties and flowers. The weather here has been "dreadful" too, Eileen--probably part of the same cloud sysyem, I reckon. Having all those berry bushes there really is good to attract neat little birdies thouigh, aren't they? Those pics don't look very beautiful to me, Sharon. hahaha--they look all tired-out and ready for hibernation to me. Like Toni says about some of hers. I sometimes want to take my secateurs and lop the flowers and stems right off...but I haven't got the heart. As long as I am still quite active in the lotties with clean-up, I do enjoy seeing their pretty little faces.
It's nice that you still have a few blooms Sjoerd. All that is left here is a yellow Rose that just won't quit. This time of year is sad for me
It's nice you still have a spot of color in your garden Sjoerd. I've all but cleaned mine out. I'm trying a fall clean up this year as Spring always finds me with no time and by the time I do get out, there is so much new stuff growing I have to be so careful when chopping anything off. If I loose any plants over this winter, I'll know better next year. I've always done it your way in the past, so we will just have to see. Thanks for sharing your blooms, it made me smile a big wide smile.
All in it's own time. I think your gardens look well-tended and cared for even though it's going to sleep.
Glad to see your blooms are still hanging on in there Sjoerd. I love the hollyhocks and how nice to see the nasturtium and the phlox still blooming.
All neat and tidy, Sjoerd. You are a great husbander. My perpetual spinach has just germinated along with Gold Shower Tree, and Leeks in boxes. Also have spinach in the garden with beets, garlic, lettuce. Do you grow a cover crop, as well? GG
Hiyah GG-- when you say "cover crop" what do you mean, 'Green Manure'? I don't know that term, "cover crop".
Well unicorn, I plant what I call "green manure" to nourish my ground. I use Phacelia, yellow lupin and borrage primarily--but I know that there are a host of other plants that folks use like clover and Lespedeza to name a couple.
