"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Monday, November 8, 2010

Ready for change.

Normally fall isn't a season that I get really excited for, especially this time of it since a lot of the color has finished and it mostly means clean up.  For some reason this fall has me really excited though, probably because it means it's time for change.  I think like the old leaves falling and the spent perennials being cut back I feel as a gardener like I'm leaving a summer of gardening disinterest behind and am already looking forward to next spring and the changes it will bring.  I've already started some planning of rearranging plants, removing grass, more substantial container plantings and maybe even that picket fence I've been dreaming of for years will go up next year.  This quote pretty much says it all:

"Autumn is a season followed immediately by looking forward to spring."  - Doug Larson

We lucked out after a night of rain to have the clouds clear a bit and the sun come out.  I couldn't wait to get outside and start cleaning the leaves up.  The small Japanese Maple leaves seem to stick to the dog and the kids and there's always a small trail of them just inside the door.

The pond is now ready for winter.  The pump was cleaned, leaves and pine needles scooped out and any annual water plants have been removed.  To read the post I did last year on how I get the pond ready for winter go here.

The whole family pitched in to clean up as many leaves as possible from the deck and path.  There are still some more on the tree, but the majority fell after all the rain we had a couple of nights ago.

Some pretty fall color on the Winter Hazel (Corylopsis).

I love seeing that the Sarcococca/Sweet Box already has buds forming for the delicious flowers that will bloom around January.  Those flowers then become the purple berries that you can sort of see in this picture.

Sweet Pea bought the Mexican Feather Grass with her own money.  I wasn't sure where to plant it so it's in a container on the deck now.  I may regret letting it go to seed, but I'm really enjoying seeing it blow in the breeze.

A few of the containers on the deck.  I didn't used to plant much in containers for fall or winter, but the last couple of years I've done a lot more and really enjoy seeing something colorful growing when most of the garden is sleeping.

While I was out cleaning I noticed how many plants and shrubs have already started setting their buds for spring.  Even though I know we still have half of fall and all of winter left I can't help but already to be looking forward to spring.  In the meantime I'll be pulling out the gardening books and catalogs so I can keep dreaming and planning.  And I wouldn't even mind seeing some snow this year to help make the winter a little more interesting.
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37 comments:

  1. Dear Catherine, It is, as you say, so exciting to plan new changes for the coming seasons. Moving things around often works wonders I find...breathing new life into plants and making things look different even though the same plants are there, just in a different place.

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  2. Your gardens and paths look wonderful. I love the planning process too - that's why I spend my winters looking out the windows at my snow covered yard and dreaming of next spings new plantings.

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  3. I love your outlook on the seasons in this post Catherine! The color I'm seeing in Seattle is beautiful, of course I come from no color at all. I can't stop looking at all of the leaves falling on the ground, and when I see a pile, I feel like a kid again and want to kick them around! I always love to see your garden in it's beautiful growing stages. I too, am ready for "change."

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  4. I have found by pretending to LIKE snow and look forward to it with childlike glee, helps. Even though it is messy wet and makes travelling hard-I pretend Im a kid happily awaiting the first snow.
    Can't wait to see what changes are in store in your garden!

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  5. Catherine, thanks for the pleasant stroll through your garden. A visit here is always a welcome treat. I too look forward to spring with much anticipation!

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  6. Dear Catherine ~ It is a joy to see you enjoying fall and looking forward to gardening again next spring. This was a positive post with lovely pictures. I really love your rockway path under the arch, and your pond, and your deck, etc., etc.

    Happy Autumn ~ FlowerLady

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  7. Beautiful, beautiful garden dear Chaterine!!!

    Kisses.

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  8. Your garden is looking lovely this fall. I can't wait to see what you have planned for spring :-)

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  9. Somehow, I appreciate a little mess in the fall as the leaves land on everything. I think of them as food for the garden. Your patio containers for fall are lovely. I'm hanging on to the ones still going at my house. I like them all just nestled together. I may just start with them that way next spring!

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  10. your garden is still looking so good / gittan

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  11. Looking good, Catherine. Since I FINALLY got all my bulbs planted, I'm definitely looking forward to spring. But the break from gardening in the winter is always nice, too, so I can be excited about it next year.

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  12. Hi Catherine. I finally got a final leaf clean up (I hope) done today.I wish it was Spring already.I always wonder what will come back in the Spring and what will be gone. I sowed the rest of the Larkspur seeds you gave me. Since they did not do so well this summer I thought I would try sowing them in the fall.
    Your pond looks all sparkly again. The grass looks really pretty in the pot.Sweet Pea did good. LOL!

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  13. The Winter Hazel has great color. I like Sweet Pea's taste in plants!

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  14. Oh Catherine, I wish it would snow here, then I couldn't see all the leaves I haven't swept up since this last storm ;) I love fall, as here it's the best time to install new plants, and as you said, that brings so much promise for spring. Looking forward to seeing your new picket fence, and your lovely spring bulbs you just planted!

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  15. Hi Catherine, It was nice to wonder through your garden looking at the wonderful color. We do not have much color left, just the odd berry. I too am dreaming of spring. Take care:)

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  16. Catherine, the garden looks wonderful and I only wish I had some of ours cleaned at this point; our vegetable area has had me captured.

    It sounds like you are already aware that the Mexican Feather Grass likes to seed little ones everywhere, but the beauty is that the root system is quite shallow and after a couple years, I dig out the parent and replace with one of the younger ones. I love it in the garden. Tell Sweet Pea she 'done good'. ;)

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  17. Your gardens are getting ready for spring and it is so exciting to see those plump buds. I had to chuckle when I read the dog brings in leaves....I have 3 dogs...one who rolls in the yard and brings in more leaves and leaf pieces than the other two combined! What a goofball.

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  18. We've been doing a lot of fall cleanup too. Your yard is looking great.

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  19. I always feel a bit bad when all the very beautiful plants and the labors that went with it will just end the way they normally do in autumn and winter. A big contrast is experienced here in the tropics, where the plants grow continuously, only a bit bad during dry months but will recover again coming rainy season. Maybe it compensates for the very hot climate which hinders working in a garden for a longer time, unlike in yours that you can garden the whole day but still feel cold. I don't know which is better, but what am sure is blogging balances a lot of our world differences.

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  20. That quote is so true. Except, I do love the holidays! After they are over tho, I go straight to spring. Forget the rest of winter!
    I'm glad you are getting excited for next season. That's a good sign. Maybe you just needed a break?
    I hope you get some of the snow you want ~ I'm always ready to share ours if only there were a way! :-)

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  21. Catherine, I found the quote you posted to fit my mood this season perfectly.
    Here's to next spring! Cheers, Jenni

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  22. Nice quote, I liked it. My mind is also thinking ahead to spring even though I'm still tired from the fall clean up of the yard.

    Awwww....Swwet Pea bought the Mexican Feather Grass with her own money. I luv the look of it shimmering in the sun and blowing in the wind.

    donna

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  23. Everything still looks so lush Catherine. I find myself full of anticipation this time of the year.

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  24. Sounds like work but good kind of work. It's a good feeling to get those things done and dream of spring. I'm with you on that number. Hope we have better weather this coming year. The droughts this year played havoc on plants and TREES. I bet my blueberries don't do well in the spring either. Anyway hope you have a good day today. Thank you for those seeds you sent. Can't wait to see them bloom in the spring.

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  25. Your garden is looking beautiful, I especially like the way the pond reflects the sky. Christina

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  26. I have to laugh as I read this because I have a pile of leaves under my desk that somehow clung to my shoes ... I, too, see buds on my new service berry and the cornelian cherry and it makes me so excited for spring! Even your "sleeping" garden is beautiful.

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  27. Like you I have been cleaning up and thinking about spring projects. I hadn't really thought about it until you pointed it out in your post- it is very heartening thing that the spring buds have been set already on garden shrubs and they are, just like us, waiting for spring.

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  28. I'm glad its not just me that losses interest in the summer - spring and autumn are much more fun, lots of planning and doing!!

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  29. Looks GREAT !
    Congrats on your planning and rearranging plants. Need a push to get my work done...think maybe the cold has something to do with it.

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  30. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I enjoy seeing leaves flutter to the ground in a light breeze.

    I haven't planted any pansies yet and am not sure I will. Like your containers.

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  31. You know I'm a sucker for sarcococca. All the elegance of box wood without the cat pee smell AND it has the best fragrant flowers!

    I'm with you on the clean sweep in the garden now. It feels so fresh and trim.

    Love to you,

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

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  32. P.S.

    YOU DESERVE a nice picket fence. They're so great for vines!

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  33. Here the leaves are almost off the trees so an end to that sweeping up is finally in sight. Now's the time to take stock and you will enjoy that relaxing garden dreaming and planning. Before we know it, it will be the all systems go song of spring. I do hope that you get some of the white stuff this winter Catherine :)

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  34. Your garden looks great! You must have a different type of sweetbox than I do. Mine is quite compact and doesn't produce berries. Or if it does it requires a microscope to see them!

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  35. Yes, the inevitable waiting for springtime. A yearly ritual.
    Brenda

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  36. Wonderfull , congratulation, greeting from Belgium
    Auton is also a nice period with it differents colors
    http://blog;seniorennet.be/louisette/

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  37. I like and agree with that quote. I enjoyed seeing more of your place. I like your background, too. I had started to use it awhile back, then accidentally chose a different one with leaves that were brighter. Once I figured that out, I decided to just keep it, even though I liked this one better. A few weeks ago, I got tired of it, and looked for one to take me into winter. Some dried flowers caught my eye, and I went with that one for awhile. We'll see how long I keep it.

    I am not finished getting ready for winter, but haven't able to get out there and get things done.

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