November Rose

November Rose
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

It's hard to believe that we've had freezing temperatures and yet the rose is still in bloom... along with some lavender, california poppies, and daisies.
The trees are finally dropping their leaves, but some are still hanging on.

Is it finally freeze time?

Well after seeing a pair of mantis in the garden last weekend (good bugs), i found myself detaching a tick from my belly (bad bug)! yikes!... they should be dead by now. We haven't had a hard freeze yet to kill off the insects. But it looks like tonight might just be the night. I'm sad to see my roses go (they are still blooming). But we really need the cold control on the insects.

More autumnal maintenance...

Emptied out the second rain barrel today and brought both in to the basement. I've got to make sure that they are both sound next year before putting them out. They both had "issues" this year. I disconnected the downspout diverter and attached the regular downspout. Finished bringing in the clay pots. Was going to plant a tangerine sage outside but i couldn't get it out of the clay pot easily... so i brought it in to the garden room. Pulled the tomato plants and dead herb plants. Feel like i am i little closer to being on schedule now.

End of Season Daylily

End of Season Daylily
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

What month is it ???

Well today felt a lot like October. I was able to trim back some of the asters, the creeping phlox that has decided to travel across the sidewalk... a long with the other plants that have died off. I emptied one of the rain barrels and it is drying out before we bring it into the basement for winter storage. I was surprised and delighted to see two mantis... One high up on the house (near the second floor window) and the other in the lavender... she wasn't too happy with me disturbing her. We can't recall ever seeing mantis in November before. Things are strange...

First frost warning

Tonight it is to go down to freezing... first time this season. Usually this happens weeks earlier. So today i spent doing prefrost activities. Bringing in pots to overwinter. Bringing in the garden hose, statuary and glass birdbath. We got most of the pots in. There are a couple big clay pots that we'll bring in later... too much to do today.
I also transplanted a bunch of the asters out of the main bed and to various other beds around the yard. I moved the orange daylily that the deer love so much from the side garden to the main garden. I also placed more tree fertilizer stakes.

End of Season Daylily

they say that tomorrow night we will be getting our first frost. The latest that i can ever remember...