Frosty, foggy, flowery

Hard frost this morning, thick on the roof and crunchy on the lawn. It took out another pumpkin plant. We finished the last of the sweet corn yesterday so no loss there. The flowers held their own. The fog over the pond was gorgeous, and another photo as the sun cleared the trees. It’s unusual that the pond is both still and clear, the duck weed all at the east end. Reflections are a rare but welcome...

Glad for a place to spend the night

You can’t take the flower arrangement indoors until all the critters have vacated. Most every gladiolus bloom was a bed for a bee this cool September morning. They are quite dozy if disturbed. Today should be toasty and I’m sure he’ll be on his way and busy...

Excerpt from Wilder

It was three days to Independence Day, the fourth day of July….The air was still and cold that night, and the stars had a wintry look. After supper Father went to the barns again…..When he came in, Mother asked if it was any warmer. Father shook his head.“I do believe it is going to freeze,” he said.“Pshaw! surely not! Mother replied. But she looked worried.Sometime in the night...

Wake up little rosebud

Time to get things moving again. That’s what the snow geese tell us. They are still making their way north. Traffic overhead for hours each day. George hired a tree mover to take care of a few evergreens that would be better situated elsewhere. The knob was a little crowded in spots, so two of the trees we planted some ten or eleven years ago were...

Front flower notes

Move the silver mound to front of deck. Move the pearly everlasting early close to spirea? Keep Alexander Mackenzie where he is for one more year, but think about swapping with Night and Day from the knob.

Veggie notes

Cosmos was a waste. Don’t bother planting again. Chinese cabbage. Got 3 crops, and took the early frost OK Keep the carrots away from the fence line. Coach has a long neck. Marigolds weren’t useful as cut flower. Different variety? Zinnias were good. Need to be cut early to promote more blooms. Lasting well in the frost. Cover tomotoes earlier. They needed more heat to start setting sooner. Carnations...

Autumn surely

A windy night last night. Most of the leaves are gone from the birches. There’s not much green left in the trees. Picked two dozen tomatoes, now peeled and frozen. Plenty left on the vines to ripen if we’re lucky not to freeze. Asters, zinnias and statice still content under the plastic covering. Just Joey and Morden Sunrise still have buds.