Falling Leaves

Well there's not much going on in the garden these days but I did manage to take a few photos yesterday.  It's pretty much all about the never-ending falling leaves and our crazy weather.  It was bitter cold last weekend and 75 degrees yesterday, and now there's a winter storm possible for tomorrow.

There's still stuff to do outside, still plants I want to cut back, and garden debris to rake out,  but I'm taking a break this week because of Thanksgiving prep. I know there will be some mild days ahead when I get can out there and finish things up.  In the meantime, I am busy looking at recipes, and making pies.

More Gold~~Gingkoes

"Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."~~Elizabeth Lawrence

Golden November

"I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colors are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content."~~ Lin Yutang

A Fall Day in Charlottesville

On Veterans Day Walt and I decided to take a road trip to Charlottesville for the day, since we were both off for the holiday. It was a beautiful day, maybe one of our last gorgeous fall days. We love Charlottesville, love walking the grounds of the university, checking out the shops, going to the Bookstore, and having a coffee on the Corner. We had lunch at Feast, a gourmet grocery and cheese shop that makes great sandwiches and soups. Then we headed to the Downtown Mall to check out the shops~~lots of people were out, enjoying the day, there were even some musicians playing on the Mall.

We also stopped at Ivy Nursery, which used to be one of my favorite stops when we would visit Julia in Charlottesville. It's a great nursery and garden shop, definitely worth a visit.

One of my favorite things to do on the Grounds is to walk through the Pavilion Gardens, just off the Lawn. There are 10 small gardens, each planted with native trees and shrubs and plants, and with a few garden benches and chairs. You can always finds students in these private gardens, especially on a sunny day, studying or reading. My favorite time of the year to see the Pavilion Gardens is in the spring when the spring bulbs and peonies are in bloom. One of the features I like the most is that each garden has its own unique gate.  I just love those gates, I wanted to take pictures of each one. There wasn't much blooming of course, but we did have a nice chat with one of the grounds' gardeners.

In addition to the gated gardens, I'm also kind of obsessed with these serpentine brick walls that enclose the gardens. An interesting fact: the walls are just one brick thick.

Such a great selection of amaryllis at Ivy Nursery. I had to restrain myself from buying more amaryllis.  And also...that pottery. Best selection ever. And why didn't I buy one of those pots from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew?

Fall ~~ Green and Gold

Apples and Pumpkins

We had a beautiful fall weekend here in Virginia. I didn't have to work on Saturday, which always feels so luxurious to have the whole weekend to do what I want. I spent a lot of time outside in the garden, beginning the fall cleanup chores...raking leaves out of the garden,  emptying a few pots of annuals, cutting back some perennials, starting to pull zinnias.  I cleaned out my little mailbox bed and planted some fall pansies and ornamental kale and cabbages. Put pumpkins on the front steps.  On Saturday we drove out to Thurmont, Md. to get pumpkins and apples. There is a great orchard there that we like where you can get a great variety of apples and apple cider. Of course we also got an apple pie to take to our friends' house for dinner that night, and some apple cider doughnuts. And really, is there anything better than apple cider doughnuts??

I bought a basket of Staymans to make applesauce, and maybe an apple pie too. Or maybe apple dumplings, a fav from my childhood.

Late Afternoon~~October

Hoeing the Garden

These cooler September days are the best.  This week has been mostly cloudy days, cooler temps,  threatening rain (but no rain).  The a/c is off and the windows are open.  I've been trying to get outside in the garden for an hour or two every day tidying up,  pulling weeds, deadheading,  and cutting back all things overgrown.

If I had to pick my favorite thing to do in the garden, it would have to be hoeing. I love to hoe. I most often use a scuffle hoe, which seems to work well for me.  Love to rough up the surface of the soil, getting in between plants, scraping off weeds and getting some air around the plants. In my mind, the plants love it. I don't mulch in my flower gardens, so I hoe.  Between pretty tight planting and regular hoeing, I don't have a big problem with weeds.

Scuffle hoe

Walt did some edging of the garden the other day and I'm always amazed what a difference that makes in how the garden looks. I'm also doing a lot of walking around, assessing what needs to be moved, what needs something new, where I can fit in some bulbs... My big plan for the fall is to plant some bulbs amidst the anemones this fall. The daffodils would come up before the anemones and then their foliage would hide the daffy foliage. The challenge will be to buy the bulbs early this fall and actually plant them. I have thrown away way too many dried up bulbs in March.

A lot of my hostas have browned and crispy leaves, so I have been gradually cutting those off and they look much better. Same with the hellebores.  A lot of my hostas and hellebores used to be under a big goldenrain tree, but since cutting it down a few years ago, the hostas and hellebores have not been their happiest.  I'm trying to be patient waiting for a redbud seedling to mature in that area. It's now about 8 feet tall and it just needs to spread its branches a few more feet to shade the hostas.

Asters and anemones

I love how the garden seems to relax in the fall. Plants are lush and full. Colors are softer.  Asters and anemones are the main bloomers right now, with zinnias still putting on a show and waiting to be picked. I did plant a few too many yellow zinnias for my taste this year, though.

Sedum

Hellebores and anemones

Anemones

Autumn clematis