Farewell Summer...

This is a view from our back deck, with the hollyhocks and our big ponderosa pines behind them. I was a little reluctant this year to say goodbye to my flowers and cut back all the perennials for winter. I love the changing seasons, and fall is my favorite, but I do miss the flowering of spring and summer. But November is here, and it is time to say goodbye to summer and even fall, and hello to winter. We live at the edge of the Oregon High Desert, and fall has been spectacular here this year. This is one of my flowering crab apple trees after all the leaves have blown off. The fruit is not edible but provides gorgeous color, and they stay on as if glued all winter long. They bloom beautifully in spring, then provide soft green shade and beauty in summer, and finally this pretty color in fall and winter. What great trees! We even tie plastic eggs on at Easter for an Easter tree some years.

Last weekend we cleaned out a flowerbed, and planted it with these red and yellow tulip bulbs. We scooped 5 inches of dirt out of the flowerbed and laid out all the bulbs, then we added a couple of inches back and put down the smaller anemone bulbs to bloom around the tulips. We finally covered everything back up, and watered it well. I hope the flowerbed looks like this photo on the bag come next spring.

Our final project was to rake up the leaves...there aren't too many as most of our shrubs and trees are evergreen here in the Pacific Northwest. What we do rake up goes into our compost and is bagged to go into the compost this winter. They compost up so well. Below is my companion in yard work !

Then the very last thing is to rake up all the pine needles...(we have LOTS of big Ponderosa Pines on our property and on the neighbors property) and these go into our utility trailer to be hauled to the dump this coming Saturday. It feels so good to get these projects done for the coming winter.

We have had a few snow flurries, and temperatures down into the low 30's and even 20's. But we also have had moderate afternoons, where being outside is still a pleasure. Alas, the weatherman has predicted rain, wind and snow for the coming days...so we can relax indoors, knowing that our work is done for now...and say hello to winter.

This is what a corner of our backyard looks like, all bare for winter. At least there are still green areas with our grass and evergreens...and it will look much better with a robe of beautiful white soon. I will take some more photos then.

Lord, thank you for the changing of the seasons...and the work you have given in tending our gardens.

"...for all thy works display thy attributes and fulfil thy designs; the sea, dry land, winter cold, summer heat, morning light, evening shade are full of thee, and thou givest me them richly to enjoy." Isaac Watts