The Fall Garden

We're leaving the Sugar Maples behind now, though we'll have to return to the Norway Maples, whose leaves hang on til nearly December.  A great deal of effort has been expended over the past month to 'put the garden to bed' for the winter, with enormous help from our gardener.  I'm only sorry that I can't help much.

The six of our raised beds have all been cleared, and covered with leaves under a protective screen of wire mesh.

An enormous amount has been cleared out, packed up, and taken to our local yard waste depot.  This sculpture has emerged from the tall plants to become visible again.

To take this one example, this wall of our shed was almost covered by a huge Clematis.  It's been clipped off and away it went.  Let me warn you, different Clematis varieties require being left unclipped or clipped, depending on their bloom pattern, so you need to know what you're working with.

Obviously we depend heavily on our gardener, since I can't do much.  He's the nephew of our neighbours, and has been with us since I returned from the hospital.  Mrs. F.G. has shared her knowledge of horticulture from the beginning, so he's very capable now.

This is one of the Clematis plants that does not get trimmed.

I just love these seed heads of this Clematis.

the bright orange Calendula and our red Rose are the brightest blooming flowers left in the garden.

Our Magnolia plant, acquired 6 years ago, has finally grown tall enough this summer to outgrow the rabbit's nibbles.  We look forward to its blooms in the spring.

The Japanese Maple is the brightest patch of colour now.  It has grown horizontally more than vertically!

All of these photos were taken just ten days ago.

And with this post I'm reverting to my usual loose schedule of posting every other day.