Saturday, October 10, 2009

Remembrance of things past I'm afraid


It looks like the growing season will end decisevely tonight with a low of 22 degrees in the forecast after a day in the low 40s with strong winds. The overnight low here was only 32, so some of the plants closest to the house, especially those covered with blankets, may have survived. But that survival will be brief. At least there has been nothing more than a flurry of snow here, but more has fallen to the west and north. Brrrr.

It has been a wonderful growing season, especially for the New Guinea impatiens, and I've enjoyed every minute of it, but we'll not see anything like these flowers flourishing a week or so ago in front of the house again until next year. All that will remain next week will be to start clearing the debris and emptying the planters. There are about a dozen of these, my favorites of terra cota and manufactured in Vietnam. They're fairly thin, however, so must be emptied in order to survive the winter freeze-and-thaw cycle.

I got home last evening at dusk after a meeting in Oskaloosa thinking I was ready for the big chill. I'd brought into the garage Friday morning four plants I'll keep through the winter, including a unique white geranium found at the Grace Lutheran bazaar in Hanlontown a year or two ago. The last of the tomatoes (some of the best of the season for some reason) and peppers are sitting in a big basket in the garage awaiting attention.

But at the 11th hour I stumbled around in the dark hauling in two small planters and cutting enough asters and marigolds to fill the altar vases with garden-fresh flowers one more Sunday.

So I guess I'm as ready for the end of the season as I can be. Even the grass has been cut extraordinarily short so most of the leaves will blow down the gulch into the Woodlawn Apartments grounds where someone else will have to deal with them. Very late in the season, the big pin oak up on the corner will finally let loose of its leaves and many of those will blow down here and stick, but that's something to worry about another day.

1 comment:

Ed said...

I thought that was my dirty little secret... cutting the grass really short so someone else deals with the leaves. I just mowed my lawn on Sunday in preparation for the falling leaves. I also thawed out and drained my garden hoses which I had forgotten about. Fortunately, they hadn't split in the cold.