Fall color

Finally, our Autumn Blaze maple tree turned color!  It is worth waiting for but sure did not last long this year!  It does not change color until almost mid October and quickly within 3 days it is absolutely blazing!  When the leaves started dropping, it was like raining beautiful color for a few days!  

Mums the word!

Fall and mums just go together ……    I always add some to a  planter  by our garage in the fall to replace summer flowers and foliage in a big planter.  Winter gets an appropriate change also!

It has been interesting to see how cities have transitioned into adding plants and tree plantings into the  cities landscapes on streets and bridges and even the state and  county interchanges have become works of art!   As  we've traveled  to other  areas of the country we've become aware of the increase art  and landscapes decorating the highways and cities all over!  Quite a change from 15-20 years ago when money was not spent on such things!

Rochester is not different from other cities of our size even on the Midwest  with our drastic change in our variety of gardening seasons!

With the Mayo Clinic growth and expansion of buildings they have landscapes that change seasonally and we've had the experience at our garden club of having a speakers from that area  tell us how they handle all that!  Jobs provided for sure in the areas of hardscape construction and horticulture areas in our country!

Now I am noticing our city is even into seasonal plantings!  On our way to downtown from where we live I recently noticed this planting on a bridge over a highway has been switched to fall with MUMS!   Not to mention we have a few bridges that even have trees planted on them and decorative lighting added to the landscape designs!  It is delightful to have such beautification.  No  wonder  our taxes keep increasing, what used to be considered a bit of extravagant expense has become necessary.

As a gardener, I often wonder what the cost is to provide all the plants and maintenance on these beds.  I also enjoy them!  The mums in this picture are huge, colorful, beautiful and bring a positive attitude experience to traveling down our streets!

Awards

Surprise Awards recognition at our Rochester Garden & Flower Club Oct. Meeting!

We do have an award program to recognize members for their contributions for "making things happen" in our organization and community!  I have served time on this committee in past years because I felt it important to give recognition to members for their participation in club activities and/or leadership action.  Everyone has something to contribute according to their time, energy level, skills and interests!  Nobody goes too far alone!  Personally the awards are not what motivates me but the recognition is always nice to receive!

But when the awards are given to you, it is always a surprise!  This time I was extremely surprised and also appreciate that it included the two of us who joined this fantastic organization about the same time (2001)!  At that time we began a long and strong friendship with the same passion of gardening, learning and valuing the friendships we have developed along the way!  It has been a fun and rewarding experience for each of us!  A friendship I deeply appreciate and value!

Both of us each received the "Distinguished Service Award" this for 2019! 

Door Prize

I won a door prize at last week's Hosta club meeting!

My name was drawn 2nd and we can choose from the selection so I spotted this adorable pumpkin with the tiny Croten plant in it!  And, needless to say, I grabbed it quickly!

Who doesn't enjoy a new Halloween décor piece!  Just turn it face to the wall and it can stay there as a pumpkin planter until Turkey Day is done!    Not to mention that little colorful plant will find a home in the spring in one of my fairy gardens!  I think its tropical feel will fit in just great in my "beach theme" fairy garden!  

Right now it is sitting on the kitchen table so we can enjoy it up close at least three times a day along with the darling yellow begonia that is residing there also.  Another touch of fall color!  I often  have several of the little pots the begonia is sitting in because I often pick those tiny plants up seasonally to enjoy.  I even find tiny poinsettia plants during the winter holidays!  Trader Joe's has them often at very reasonable prices!  Yep, the begonia will end up in a fairy garden in the spring also!  Unless I get bored and make an indoor one with house plants later in the winter!😉

Oh, in case you are wondering about the brown cup planter, I found that with the Coffee Plant seedlings at Home Depot for $4 and decided there was a spot for it in the kitchen for awhile!  The writing on the cup says " Cappuccino Express Cafe"!  

Getting books autographed by the author was fun!

Last week our Hosta Club had our annual meeting so it was a fun time once again to meet and greet hosta friends!  We took care of the election of new officers that were needed, voted to agree to host the 2022 Midwest Hosta Convention, and enjoyed a fantastic program!  Hosta people are fabulous providers of treats which are enjoyed during a break between the business meeting and program!

Once again we had the pleasure of listening to a delightful English accent!  Michael Schadrack is an author of several books on hostas, a previous resident of England, a hosta grower/collector, and entertainer with wit!   Michael provided us with lots of wisdom and gardening tips using pictures he took while visiting famous English Gardens.  He skillfully provided excellent education on designing garden beds using his pictures as examples!

I have two of the books he was involved in writing and remembered to bring them along to get his autograph on them! 

  Check out this website for more information about this interesting author and hosta gardening:

Click here to learn more about Hosta Gardening

Fall's First Freeze

Yep, woke up this morning to this beautiful sight!

We knew it was coming, it always does!    Time to dig out the bird bath heater for our feathered friends who come to the feeders and greet our "boys" as they perch on their climber by the window!

So glad we finished getting our garden bed perennial plants cut back and annuals pulled out last week.  The local compost site has been busy!  We were realizing how effective my downsizing of garden beds to low maintenance with size and plant varieties has helped reduce the winter prep labor!  Now to wait until the crop of hosta leaves die back and dry out a bit to reduce that labor project!  At that point just 30 minutes to reach down and pick up the leaves of 100 hostas, stuff them in bags and head to the compost site!  

Thrift Store Shopping!

Denny was looking for a TV converter box to convert a old TV to receive digital signals so we managed to visit three different thrift stores in our fair city before he found one!

So, while he was looking for his quest, I was snooping for pots to hold house plants in my indoor garden beds, of course!  I did find a few coasters that work well for some Kokedoma creations and Denny discovered a metal hanging basket for me to check out!  ( Yea, he's a good guy to tag along with!)

Yep, it is larger than the one I purchased earlier this summer with plans to use it for an outdoor winter arrangement.  I have just the spot to hang it!  He agreed to give it a fresh coat of black paint and for $3 it came home with us!  Not impressive as it is, but I see it filled with greens, etc.  

I am looking forward to having outdoor winter décor beyond December this year!  So, I will increase the amount of my artistic expression for sure!  Love working with greens with lights outside!  I've seen some new lanterns with flickering candles that really are becoming very attractive to me!  Thinking I can use one during different seasons, etc.  

Also I am looking forward to using my winter holiday set of dishes in Jan. and Feb. this year.  And also glad I kept my collection of "Winter" (not Christmas) indoor décor touches  (primarily snowmen) tucked away while we were snowbirding the last 13 years!  So I am looking forward to winter...(but not the snow and cold)!  

Here is my new hanging basket I will be filling with greens, etc.

    

A touch of Fall from across the Atlantic!

This week I received this photo and message from a dear gardening friend who shared her wonderful friendship while we were snowbirding in Mesa, AZ. these last 13 years!

She is touring Europe again right now!   

This was her message with the picture:  "I saw this fall flower arrangement at Saint Karl’s Catholic Church in Saint Moritz, Switzerland and I thought of you !"

Thanks for thinking of me and reminding us it is Fall other places besides in Minnesota right now!

Some new homes for Karl!

After arriving home Sat. AM with our trailer full of "Karl" we made quick work of splitting the rescued plants into smaller plants to get them ready for planting in their new homes.  We ended up with 33 plants for our neighbors across the street to enjoy!

Our neighbors back yards, across the street, are fenced in but just beyond the fences is an open field, which belongs to a church on that property!  Two neighbors are going to be lining the outside of their fences with "Karl Foerster", which will be such an attractive backdrop for their garden beds!  I can't wait to see it grow into a spectacular sight in just a few years!

I can't help but wonder if they will be shared on along the other neighboring fences as times passes!  What a spectacular sight that would become!

Rescuing Karl

Sat. AM we were part of the plant rescue crew at the Veterans Memorial Garden Beds thinning out our planting of Karl Foerster Grass to preserve its beautiful display!  Our local Garden Club plants and maintains some garden bed areas that are part of our awesome Veterans Memorial in Rochester! One of our community projects we've been involved with since the memorial was built!

It was time once again to tackle what would be a huge job for one or two people, but many hands, forks and shovels made quick work of this job in only 45 minutes!  We removed about 45 plants that were split into about 100 pieces for new plants to be replanted in new homes!  Some of the plants are being potted up and held in a garden bed until mid May 2020 for inventory for our annual fund raising Plant Sale!  Way more than we need for that, but homes were quickly found for the remaining popular perennial grass so none ended up in the compost site!  

This grass does not have deep roots and is not aggressive so is easily dug up if the ground is at least damp and conditions were right to make quick work of this project!  Great bunch of gardeners to do a project with, led by our Plant Sale Chairs, Barb S. and Deb R.! 

This will allow the remaining 45 plants more space to expand into and we will be back again in several more years to repeat this process!  

Our "Rescue Karl" Team with leaders Deb in purple by the trailer &  Barb is in the gold jacket!

Completed section of the project!