Winters Approach

When one is responsible for keeping up with a large and high maintenance garden one really must get off his arse and get out there and get things done. So that is what I have been doing for the last few days of unexpected sunshine.

The bubble wrap insulation wisely installed before all the large container plants were brought into the greenhouse for winter storage.

And I have put Thanksgiving away and am sorting through Christmas lights and decorations.  Every year I tell myself that I will only put out a few lights but when I pull the boxes out of the garage attic the little boy comes out in me and before I know it I am putting them all up again.  It is getting quite harrowing to decorate the Monkey Puzzle tree and I have the punctured fingers to show for it.  The "Crazy Cat Lady" hissed from her front porch that I really should have someone hold that ladder to which I declined any of her involvement, only to have a gust of wind blow just as I stepped away and the damn thing came crashing down.  C.C.L. hissed and growled something and retreated into her dark house.

There is a reason why this tree has survived through the millennia.

After that I cleaned up a few flowerbeds raking leaves and debris and depositing it into my composters. There is still a bit of color to be found in the gardens.

These sunny faced chrysanthemums,  I don't know the variety as they were just some cuttings
 I rooted from a neighbors yard.

This chrysanthemum is called "Emily" a very hardy long time resident at the Manor.

The last few zinnias have now been removed leaving the Purple Beauty bush to show off its fall glory.

Picked this little gem up at a flea market. I plan on pressure washing the blue paint off.