October 2019

Autumn is Here!
Where did the summer go! Feeling rather cheated that we had
so much rain in June, July and August and so little sunny days.

We had about one week of nonrainy, nice fall weather but then it snowed on Sept 22 and again on Sept 28.

I love the gorgeous changes of colour that happen in the fall.

September 28

Not as much snow as Calgary and area but still way too early!

Morden Ruby rosebush

My Morden Ruby rose took a long time to get going this year but no wonder with our lack of sun this summer. It had a huge number of blossoms by October but the flowers were smaller than usual. Unfortunately the frost was threatening them and I cut the stems off to bring the stems into the house to enjoy them in a vase.

My gorgeous John Davis rose had a great number of blossoms on it as well and it was looking so beautiful! I would highly recommend this rose bush. It sets buds early, starts blooming in a timely fashion in June and then continues to bloom non-stop for months until the frost shuts it all down in October.

Quick Fire Hydrangea

I love my Quick Fire Hydrangea shrubs which I planted about 3 years ago. I'm all about doing things/ growing things that are easy, less work with high returns and this Hydrangea is one of them. Quick Fire is hardy, non fussy and it gets little single white flowers which turn pink in August/ Sept. then a darker pink in October. .

Hosta 

I've forgotten the name of my Hosta, but this one never fails to please. It is non fussy and gets this pretty clusters of flowers in early August which last until Jack Frost arrives.

Red Deer River fall colours

October winterizing work:

 I clipped off the remainder of the Monkshood in the Round Angel Bed and clipped off Maltese cross in that same bed, plus the round bed and bottom of the Rock Garden.  I pulled out most of the Bachelor Buttons from the Round bed and next to the house, trying to leave some seeds behind. I took out most of the Calendulas (had a bumper crop of them this year, Yay!) from the end of the Stackstone bed and next to the house, shaking off a lot of the dried seeds for next year.

Both Calendulas and bachelor Buttons (Cornflowers) will reseed themselves by just leaving their seeds on top of the soil, no fuss!) 

I chopped down the Hollyhocks in the Stackstone bed and next to the house. Only the one in the stackstone bed actually had any seeds, so I dropped a few in the flower bed to start a few babies. 

The Hollyhocks next to the house did not do as well as usual. They did grow eventually and did bloom but  not as well as usual. 

Clematis.

One of my new Clematises, the Ville DeLyon died back early so it may not survive to regrow next year.  My other Clematis next to the house ( I think its a  Jackimanai Superba) lasted all summer . It grew well, but the main growing stem with most of the buds got pinched off somehow and I had to cut it back so it had sparse flowers as it is only 1 year old.  Hopefully next year it will do better.

I also have a clematis in the vegetable garden which I left there for lack of placement spots, but I bloomed really well once it got going. It for sure is a Jackimanai Superba and next year I will replace the defunct (most likely) Ville De Lyon.

I clipped off some of the leaves on my Day Lilies to use as mulch for my rose bushes. I gave the rose bushes a drink of water first, but we had snow and then rain a couple of times so Im not too worried about dryness this year. I put peat moss on top of the mulch as well. This week (October 16) I wrapped the bushes with "Better Than Burlap" and yarn.  It was a gorgeous sunny day +17C and I had a surge of energy after my meeting in town to get them all done. 

I dug a hole in the vegetable garden and sunk my newest rose bush, Morden belle into the ground there, pot and all. Next spring I will probably put it in the Round bed between the Monkshood, facing the house. Or if we move, I'll dig it up and take it along :)

Orange cana lily bloomed all summer

I dug up my Firebird Dahlias, one from the Stackstone bed and one from the yard tub, knocked the dirt off the tubers and brought them into the laundryroom to dry. Then I found a box for them and added peat moss to keep them till spring. 

I also dug out my fabulous Thomas Edison Dahlia which had huge blossoms as big as my open had in a deep purple colour. I think it got well fertilized. 

I dug 2 Dianthus out of my flower boxes  and planted them in the Round bed.  

In Vegetable Garden

1 lavendar

1 clematis

1 rose bush

1 peony (for Renae)

1 perennial grass

Now I just have to dig up my cana lily and try to overwinter that too. 

The vegetable garden did quite well. The swiss chard and carrots were the best this year. The dill took a long time to grow in the raised bed but the ones that came up at the top of the rock garden were much earlier and bigger. 

The beets were small and few unfortunately. The peas did well too but the beans were very disappointing. The bean plants kept dying and only one survived and had a handfull of green beans on it.

Squashes and zuccini were the most disappointing this year. They leaves got mildew really badly from all the rain and I didnt treat them so the zucchini plants died after producing only 1 zuccini worth mentioning. The spaghetti squashes were later and we managed to get one that was good. There were a few tiny ones on the plant but they didn't amount to much.

Next year its important to get the mildew problem under control early.

Fall lake trails 

Slugs/ Ugh!

The beer traps worked but I discovered something easier to use- oats!

If you spread a thin layer of oats on the soil the slugs eat it, puff up and die.

Need to remember that for next year.

Geese are practising their flights to get ready for migration. I love to see them and hear them flying overhead to and from the lake.

 More 

I wish I could really capture the beauty of this. The snow geese were dancing across the clouds and the sunshine was reflecting on their white feathers in such a beautiful shimmering pattern, like a white sparkling necklace moving across the sky! It was magically beautiful! 

Soon another winter will arrive.