Not too shabby for mid November!

Well, I finally accept the fact that winter is around the corner.  We had an amazingly beautiful fall right up until about week or so ago.  It seemed to have been making up for our less than amazing spring and summer.  But after a few frosts, we finally had a pretty good freeze last night with temperatures down in the mid 20's.  So, that means it's perfect weather to get up really early and go watch a soccer game!  Sweet Pea's soccer team played today, unfortunately they lost by one goal, but it was a great close game.  Her team ended up first in their league and second in their division, pretty exciting for her.  Anyway, a good thing about getting up that early on a weekend meant there was lots of the day left to get other things done.  Even though birdbaths were still frozen I decided to go out and do more  fall clean up.  There is still quite a bit more to do, but now I know I have to take advantage of the dry days, cold or not, to finish.  Once I get moving I forget about how cold it is anyway.

This planter just looks better and better.  I love how it's filling in.

A newer evergreen shrub in my garden, which is supposed to do well in the Pacific Northwest, is False Holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus) 'Goshiki'.

This Aster is one of the few things left blooming in the garden.  Wallflower, Erysimums and Daphne 'Summer Ice' are about it for now.

The shed garden looking pretty good for the middle of November.

There are still quite a few apples left on the tree.  I can't reach them and need to remember to have my husband get some down.  They have been so good this year.  I recently chopped some up to cook with a really good maple glazed pork tenderloin the other day.

I have filled many bags with leaves and pine needles from the path.  It gets so matted and wet that our dog won't go outside.

Sarcococca ruscifolia is already full of buds.  It blooms in late winter with the best smelling flowers.  It does great in dry shade and is evergreen, I love it.

The pond had a layer of ice on it this morning.  The fish are hiding at the bottom and there are still lots of leaves to scoop out.  The Water Hawthorn is just starting to bloom, it actually prefers the cooler weather and blooms into winter.

The window boxes outside our dining room window are doing great.  The Littlest Gardener chose the colors of Violas.  They are bright and cheerful!

Overall it's still looking pretty good outside, I do miss not seeing many flowers though.  

Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving!  My sister and her family are driving from Idaho to join us,  we're excited to see them and hope they have a safe drive especially since it sounds like there are several storms predicted.

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.