Tuesday, October 23, 2007

fall blooms - pt four

Another beautiful day - although quite a bit of wind this afternoon. We started taking the dock out this morning - and after two sections (out of nine), Mark asked if I still had the number I'd seen on a sign advertising dock removal. We have a ton of toys and all of the work that goes with them - and we ALWAYS do that work ourselves - so this was HUGE!!!! The guy came out about an hour later and had the rest of the dock out in about another hour. Boy, was that nice!! And easy!! It also made both Mark and me feel old, old, old - it would have taken us hours working together. sigh

I started moving my compost over the weekend and am over halfway done. It goes pretty fast once I start, so a few more hours and that job will be done. Then I have to shred a few more leaves that have fallen into the yard, and that job will be done too. I think we may be close to running out of jobs!!

But not yet - I still have all those lovely tulip bulbs to plant. And my dahlias are still in the gardens - blooming away - and I really hate to cut them back when they look so beautiful. But if I'm going to save them, I think I'd better do it soon. From what I've read, I need to cut them to about 6 inches - and then a week later I can dig them up, dry them, and store for the winter.
This was my first time planting dahlias, and I have been simply delighted with how gorgeous they are and how many blooms I've had. Very fun.

13 comments:

Britta said...

Still wonderful flowers and colors in your garden. I wish I could say the same from mine. Mý garden is covered from all the falling leaves. I already know how I will spend my weekend....I will remove all the leaves. ;o)

Have a great day, Britta

Anonymous said...

Your flowers are still so lovely. Just about everything here in Atlanta is dead or dying. We had a lot of rain yesterday, so maybe some things will come back for a while.

Anonymous said...

I often have this feeling of being very old when another person does the same work in half of the time....just happened when I cut trees with my "garden-angel" (a man who is coming to assist me with all the really hard work 3 to 4 times a year). But he's the same age ;-) !!! My dahlias are faded and I could take them out....but today it is so cold outside and I don't feel like gardening.... Your flowers are still beautiful!
Barbara

Diana LaMarre said...

You still have such beautiful blooms!
I don't know why you would have to cut your dahlias down to 6 inches and then wait a week to remove them from the ground. Are you sure that is what you read? When I've planted them in the ground, I've always dug them out, hosed the dirt off, then let the tubers lay in the sun for a day or two to dry out a bit (to help prevent mold when stored).

I am really glad I have all of that stuff done. It's getting cold now and I hate working outside when it's cold and damp. I hope the weather stays decent for you.

Susie said...

Well blogger is being a beast. I typed a comment entered the code and poof it disappeared. Basically what I said was that taking the dock apart sounded like a huge job and probably worth hiring out. Your blooms are lovely as always.

nonizamboni said...

Stunning flowers! And by my estimation we've already had 4 perfect fall days around here. . .haven't they been spectacular? I still have tomatoes hanging on like they had good sense. BTW thanks for your kind words; some days just my body feels old. At 70 Dick Cavitt said he still didn't feel old, but like a young guy who had something wrong with him. :O)

Nan said...

You know, from listening to Garrison all these years, it has seemed to me that you and I live in much the same climate, but it really isn't true. I'll bet you have flowers a month or more longer than around here. I so love visiting around the country and seeing how very different all the areas are in terms of plants and length of growing season.

It is an odd, odd feeling - that first realization that aging really does happen. I guess the only cure is to do what we can and not dwell on what we can't. Plus, it must be kind of fun to have someone else do it and you get to simply enjoy the result!

Nan said...

Me, again. I have been looking around for more photos of your kitchen cupboard work, but haven't found any since April. I'd love to see the final results. A while back, we took down all our upper cupboards and it changed the kitchen so much.

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

What beautiful blooms~ thanks for bringing a smile to my face.

Wicked Gardener said...

That orange bloom took my breath away - and I can't say that happens much when I'm looking at blogs. What is it?

kris said...

Nan - We do get frost and freezes earlier than this, but this year we haven't had one yet. Maybe you get an earlier start in the spring than we do??

The kitchen: yeah, there are no more photos to share. sigh. We decided to do this project as we had time - and we didn't touch it all summer. I'll have to share what's happening - and hopefully some progress over the winter! - in a post.

Wicked gardener - the orange flower is a tuberous begonia. Isn't it awesome?!

Catherine said...

Beautiful photo's of your gorgeous Dahlia's!!
Happy weekend!
Cat

this said...

Your dahlias are so beautiful, thankyou for sharing.