Jan here, with a moving in update. I've told you about the back porch at our new house. The view gets better with every change of the seasons and angle of the sun!
But there's another side to our new home. I love the front of the house, too.
This is our front door and the perennial flower bed we inherited from the former owner. This is much like it looked when we first saw the house in April - dormant plants. We added my favorite blue bird bath and our herons (made of iron and stone,) plus the bird feeders. After a summer of neglect, it was time to put these plants to bed.
You might wonder why I was so pleased to find this mature garden. Well, if you've been around the Cafe for a while, you know that we've moved. A lot. Our average time of living in a place was five years until we moved here.
I have planted - and left behind - more flower beds than I want to think about. With each garden, I've left a little piece of my heart planted in that ground that I tilled, fertilized, planted, mulched, watered...
But here, in this new place, we have no plans to leave this garden behind for many years. My dormant green thumb can come out and play again!
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| In case you're wondering, that brown thing is the downspout from our eaves-troughs (aka gutters) |
I also did a little planting - - -
A few crocus bulbs strategically placed,
And my great-grandmother's rose that lived in this pot all summer during our move.
Here it is, in its new spot and cut back for winter. I'll buy a cover to protect it from the frigid cold we're expecting this year, and it should be just fine next spring.
And here we are! All buttoned down and ready for the winter storms!
Jack celebrated with a nap, and I celebrated with one of my favorite treats - an "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" cookie! Click HERE for the recipe!
How do you get ready for winter?
Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.
Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com
Everything looks lovely, Jan. I can't wait to see that bed in the summer. Believe it or not, we're actually preparing for winter here on the coastal plains of Texas. You know, those few days when temps actually fall below freezing. ;) So we've been out this morning, covering our winter plants (pansies, snapdragons and ornamental cabbage/kale), unhooking hoses and moving potted mums into the garage. Once the threat of freeze is over, it'll all be returned to normal. But until then, I'll have plenty of hot tea and chocolate at the ready to carry me on to my Friday deadline.
ReplyDeleteIt must be winter when your temperatures flirt with that freezing mark! We were at zero degrees this morning after yesterday's storm. Yes, it is definitely winter.
DeleteEnjoy your hot tea and chocolate as you head toward that deadline! Praying for good words that come easily!
I don't really prepare for winter here, but I did take some cuttings from the coleus out front before our first freeze on Friday night. Glad I did because by Saturday morning, all the glorious plants that had adorned the window boxes were dead.
ReplyDeleteWe had two days of cold (low 30s) and now it's back into the high 50s today. But there is another cold snap promised for tomorrow, possibly bringing some snow showers.
I'm looking forward to your spring garden.
I'm glad you got your cuttings before the frost!
DeleteI'm looking forward to seeing what spring brings, too. Since we moved into the house in August, we missed the early summer flowers. Once I know what is there, then I'll start planting my own favorites.
One of my projects for next summer is to take cuttings of the wild roses that grow in abundance around here and plant a few at the back edge of the garden. The birds will love the rose hips!
Oh, won't this be like the best present ever come spring??? It will be like a gift straight from God's heart and nature's breast and I can't wait to see what it brings, Jan! Every day will be a surprise and if you want/need some lovely iris tubers, I have a gazillion in lots of colors (and weird crosses, no doubt.) I'd love to mail you some.
ReplyDeleteThis is so wonderful!!!!
I'd love to have more irises! I know we have some, because I cut them back on Saturday. But I have no idea what the colors are. :-)
DeleteAnd, yes, it IS wonderful. *sigh*
Will the deer eat your crocuses? I can't seem to get any bulbs to grow cause the squirrels keep digging them up and either eating them or planting them in someone elses yard. I have one tulip every year. :-) Love Gardener Jack! He's looking mighty proud of himself...and growing out his puppy fuzz!
ReplyDeleteI finished the last of my garden clean up last week and it snowed the very next day. Just a sprinkling. We're in the middle of a major blizzard now so my gardening days are definitely over for another day. Don't think this stuff will be melting until the spring.
I have a feeling the deer will eat anything I plant! I know they love tulips, so I didn't even try to plant those. But the crocuses survived at our house in town, even though we had a herd of deer living in and around the neighborhood. So I have hope!
DeleteAnd yes, winter is upon us. I still have time to cover my rose, but gardening season is definitely over for this year. I'm going to have to give my new address to my favorite seed catalog companies. :-)
Can't wait to see it in the spring Jan Thank you for sharing with us! My daughter is the one that gets her flowers ready for winter here!
ReplyDeleteJan, I just love that you have your great-grandmother's rose bush!! I think that's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLoved the photos! Especially Jack. :)