Monday in the autumn garden

Monday in the Autumn Garden

It is cold in the autumn garden this Monday.

The early morning walk with that cup of coffee calls for a jacket to be able to endure that cool air. I used to be able to come out in the early morning, slipping on my sandals parked by the back door in case of a late evening or night time visit.

I must confess, I like to go out after dark and see how the garden and all my hypertufa pots look like in moonlight. Sometimes it is bright enough to see around. And I have those solar lights here and there to light the way. (Love those things.)  But my favorite, of course, is the early morning while it is still foggy or misty. It is so nice then.

The Autumn Garden - The Hypertufa Gardener

I sometimes come upon a robin, digging through the troughs. As long as they don’t uproot things much, I let them be. And the tiny birds perched on the edge of the purple cone flowers are so light, they sway with the stalks in the wind. The bright yellow ones are the prettiest.

Most of my troughs are full and lush, and a few of my succulents inside have died for no clear reason. Or maybe over-watering. Or a stray cat using it as a toilet?  I have a lot of squirrels that seem to want to bury their stash in my planters. Those chipmunks are little devils running along the fence startling you with their darting moves.

I have gravel bed in my garden, since my troughs are lined up and down the way. I am not sure where to put more of them, but I just cannot quit.  Just this past month, I have changed out and put some of the troughs on a few of the leftover tree stumps. We shall see how that goes. Next campfire they may prove their use.

And I am not planning to wintersow this year again. I  have a lot of plants for the garden sales in the spring  just using the ones that are needing divided. There are two that I am involved in, and I want to make a nice contribution of potted perennials.  So we will use some of the old lumber and treated wood to make some plant tables to use over the winter as a nursery.

Hasn’t the T Rex trough sedums grown so much?  check out the differences.  You can’t help but love that erodium and I will get more of that, I am sure.  I have taken mine inside this year in a glass terrarium. I hope it blooms inside, but I do think it needs to rest too.

One of the troughs is not doing as well. It could be that the soil needs refreshed/replaced. It seems to become compacted over several years. Another chore to put on my list. I will look that up, and try to do better next year.

I love all my hens and chicks, which reminds me that I have to haunt those garden centers, watching for more mark-downs! Feed my addiction!

What are you doing this fall in your garden?  I am wishing I had planted more mums!

4 Comments

  1. Denise Goodenough says:

    Kim what do you do with your draped hypertufa for the winter?

    1. Kim Smith says:

      I have drainage holes and just leave them outside in the snow. I haven’t had any problems with any of them. I have some empty because they are just pot sleeves for potted plants. But the ones with soil, same thing. No problem.

  2. Sorry that the season is a bit sad. I also wrote this week about going outside in early morning to see what the garden holds. It’s not quite as chilly here which probably helps with the sadness.~~Dee

    1. Kim Smith says:

      Oh, I agree. Dread the cold. But that morning walk in the garden is what I look forward to every day. Thanks for visiting.

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