What have you done today in the Garden?

Nothing left to do in the garden. Everything is picked, covered, tucked away.
Winter? Bring it on! Actually, I'm hoping for a mild winter.

 

That sounds like a good and complete presentation. It was nice that your man wrote some info for them as well. I thought that the foto's were a good touch. I think that one of the most important subjects that you described were the flowering plants that folks can plant in their gardens for pollinators.
Well done, you.

 

Sjoerd, thank you for the kind words. My husband had prepared a "beginner's guide to beekeeping" for a beekeeping club, so we had these booklets on hand, and we have access to as many of the Texas Parks and Wildlife booklets as we need. They are even online!
I'll pass your compliment on to the beekeeper/author. Again, thank you for the nice comments.

 

Today I picked the last of the green beans. I had them covered for the last two week waiting on them to get mature enough to pick. Picked up some of the ground cover and folded it up and parked it in the grapes for the winter. It will stay there for the same area for next year since it is cut for that length in the garden.
Cleaned a few bucket fulls of fertilizer out of the chicken coop and sprinkled it down the row of garlic I planted a couple weeks ago.
Went and got grain for the girls for more fertilizer and egg donations.

 

Yesterday I pulled the last of the carrots, pulled some kale and cut down all the hydrangeas around the front porch. Hubby is replacing some boards on the porch and the hydrangeas were so big it was making it difficult. I put away all the lawn furniture, garden ornaments and pails in preparation for the fall storm happening today. When the rains stop, I will be able to cut down all the perennials. Did I mention how much I hate this time of year?

 

My my, you people make me admit to being lazy.
I love gardening, but the Winter season is my reward for all the work I put in during Spring and Summer.

 

.....At this time of year just about all that happens in the garden is cleaning-up, making the garden "winter ready". The beds of the veggie plots are cleaned and prepared to be covered by plant refuse for the winter to protect the soil from the winter rains, snow and ice. We remove any weeds, loosen the soil (but not turn it), add a bit of stall manure and then cover the the prepared plots with green manure and the dying veggie vines and stalks...also some from the flower garden.

Over in the flower garden, I am clearing plots so that I can get to the bindweed and ground elder roots. It is all beginning to take on a sterile appearance--flat. The height of some of the perennials are disappearing now and being piled-up on the veggie plots to give them their winter mulching, so to speak.

I have planted crocus and Tulipa turkestanica bulbs over in the blueberry patch. I have saved a few to plant in a couple of the cleaned flower garden plots.

The amaryllis bulbs that I had growing in the flower garden to replenish the bulb integrity were lifted, the foliage cut off and left to dry in a place at home.


I shall replant them in small pots at the beginning of december, and place them in the living room. I really enjoy observing their rapid growth and development.

The green house was totally emptied of all tom plants as well as the Afrikaantjes and paprika and peppers. The water butt emptied and cleaned and placed along the empty watering cans in the greenhouse for the winter.

I had planted the fall crocus bulbs that Droopy gave me and they are coming up and blooming. I cherish these. they are coming up in-between the Forget-me-not's and Limnanthes. Of course the foto does not do them justice in terms of their colour.

 

All of you seem to have more going on in the garden than I do.
I dug up a few annoying intruders today. The wild interlopers
spread rapidly if left alone, so out they come.

I'm concerned about the garlic. I set it out October 3rd. It should be up
by now, but only about 6 green sprouts out of 4 rows. I wonder if I put
too much mulch ? Too late to replant.

 

Sjoerd, it seems the bulbs like the Netherlands as much as we do.

All we do in the garden at this time of year is to complain that we didn't get nearly enough done. It's now November 4th, the daylight hours are shrinking fast and the weather is unpredictable. We're out there with headlamps. It's not too bad since you can only focus on what's right in front of you. *lol*

 

Today was the most beautiful day yet this week. Sunny and in the 70's. I have never seen such a nice Fall as this one and I dont' even like this season because I know what is coming... but today I took the last of the honey off and found one hive had succumbed to wax moths. I didn't do a great job this Summer taking care of the bees... I just kept watching them. I now have 5 supers to extract this week.

 

Hey Growingpains--I have had similiar experiences with garlic, and sometimes I had to wait until december...and one year until march to see all of my garlic come up.
I am still hopeful for you.

Droopy--The feeling is mutual.

 

The weather here has been fantastic this week, and so I am getting the perennials cut back in all the back flower beds. I haven't been able to do a thorough job for the past few years because the weather has always turned bad before I had time. I do hope I am able to top dress the veggie patch with manure before the snow comes.
Growingpains - my garlic never shows itself before spring. There IS hope