I really have to get more hellebores

You just have to love something that's blooming on Christmas!

Not helping with  my spring fever, though.

I've been surfing the plant websites already, making my list and checking it twice. The last couple of years have been about filling up the space. This year is the year of cool. I'm looking for fragrant and reblooming varieties of things, and the cool and unusual. We'll see how that goes. I totally miss cruising the local clearance racks, though, and most of the nurseries around here are closed between Christmas and new years. BAH!

Watching the hummingbirds.....

and the other visitors

and counting the days to the flower show.....hope I win tickets this year! Leaves more money for plants.

is is bad to have spring fever on christmas??

'cause I have a major case of it already.....it's going to be a LONG winter.

This week there was a clearance rack score.....a HUGE itoh peony, regularly $68 for half price. Had to have it, and it's already nestled in it's new home. I'll be headed back to that clearance sale because I saw a BUNCH of things I wanted.....maybe that's what gave me the fever.

The seed catalogs are starting to pile up too......not helping at all.

So, the project after Christmas is to build the small raised bed boxes for next spring and a nice one for potatoes. As much as we've tried (and had success before), the potatoes in the garbage can thing just isn't working.

Y'all have a great Christmas.....I'll be here drooling over seed catalogs and wishing for the flower show!

BRRR!!!!

It's been very cold here, and the yard looks like someone took a blowtorch to it. Too cold to get outside and chop on stuff, although it hasn't stopped these guys.

They'll be out there all winter, believe it or not, and we've had a MAJOR war going over the feeders.
It's amazing to see them out there in the snow and everything.

Not much gardening news, too cold, too frozen, although I did get the first of the new year seed catalogs, and I'm definitely eyeing a two for one daylily sale tomorrow. (they won't be shipped until spring).

I also entered a contest with Subaru to win tickets to the flower show. Now THERE"S something to look forward to. (besides making next year's wish list)

one last round

The weather has been unseasonably mild here, although super wet, and the garden is still going...
There's one iris that's particularly confused. I don't know what the name of this one is, but it smells like grapes. LOVE IT!

 

This guy is still going too.....

 

In floor news....we got tired of the bump, so we took a skill saw to it. There was no surprise to find out that the glue underneath was not stuck to the concrete at all......IT's all stuck to the board..

In the gift that keeps on giving.....we've gotten hosed yet again.....JERKS!!!!!

still going.....

so, here we are at the first of November already.......It hasn't frozen here yet, although it usually does, and the garden is still hanging in there!

I know, it's all looking pretty scraggly....but, it's hanging in there.

This week, the clearance rack brought me a fuzzy kiwi, a daylily "roaring 20s", and a couple of wooly thyme. Pickins are slim, but there are still a few interesting things to be had. I might just have to go back for that half price ITOH peony I saw at the nursery. Even at half price, it's still a bit spendy, but it was HUGE.

Looks like the holidays are happening here, so, we'll be doing a bunch of little things on the house. Next week, we'll be cutting a hole in the floor to remove the bubble that's come apart. I think if we cut out the bumped up spot, fill the space with something, and put a rug over it, it'll work for now. The new flooring is going to take 4-6 weeks to arrive, and then it has to acclimate here for at least 2 weeks. I'm not going there until after Christmas......probably sometime in February. I'll be glad when it's done, just not looking forward to it.

The monsoon season has begun!

It was a dark and stormy night.....no, really it was...winds up to 40mph and raining sideways here.
Consequently, there's not much happening in the garden at the moment....
although, I did manage to score two daylilies, one black and one pink, and a peony "sorbet", at the farmers market this week. I ran out between drenchings and got them planted asap, now just hoping they don't drown.

From this point out, it becomes about next year.....what worked this year, what didn't, what's on the wish list, and what's going to be the theme for the coming year. I've already decided the garden focus this year will be on rebloomers and fragrance. I'll also be working on my iris collection.....fewer free ones, and directing it more to the blues, blacks, and whites.

We're pretty much done with structures in the garden, although I would love a moon gate for the white garden....now it's just a matter of filling in, and working on the food part of the garden......maybe a tea tree, some more spaces for pumpkins and squash, and a new box to plant potatoes in, just for fun.

In house projects, there is that little matter of replacing the hardwood floors. Not looking forward to that, but it has to be done, and the sooner the better. We're going back and getting new quotes from folks now. It'll probably happen after the first of the year, when the holidays are done and the heat has been on for a while.

The good news is, even though it's been raining every single day (over an inch last Wednesday alone),
some of the plants are still hanging in there.......gotta enjoy them while they're here, it's going to freeze soon.

p,s,,,,,,that daylily was a Costco buy last spring....I'll definitely be looking for more of those kind of buys next spring!

still going.....

but winding down even faster now....
Although I still find myself surfing the 'net and looking at pics for next year's wish list.

This week, a few new dafffodils joined the crowd, and a pink hellebore that caught my eye.

Still looking for the elusive "jade tiger" hellebore, but I'll find it.....

The Echinacea are still going, but the rain didn't help them. They just get all moldy and crummy from the water.

The monsoon season has definitely started, so it's inside projects on rainy days from here on out.
It's also going to freeze at night any time now, so everything will be really done soon. That's OK, we can start with a clean slate for next spring.

I'll definitely be focusing more on rebloomers next year....that daylily there is on it's second round, even this late in October, and there's an iris out there DETERMINED to put up a flower. Just hope it happens before it gets frozen to death.

p.s. check out this peony.....it's all ready for spring! I just hope that nice potential flower makes it through the winter.....this one is a really cool yellow!

 

Just a note.....in house news.....we're a bit more finished on our floor drama, I'd say about a third of the way. Now we just have to find someone to fix it, move all the furniture, completely tear up the floor and replace it (including all the baseboards), and repaint probably after the first of the year. Good times! (NOT!)