Fall Planting

Autumn leaves take the spotlight in the Hudson Valley this time of year. Miraculous displays of red, yellow, gold and brown provided stunning vistas in all directions and surprises of color around every bend and corner. It was truly a gorgeous season. Rains in the past week have caused most of the leaves to fall, however there are some maple trees with bright yellow leaves seemingly determined to hang on as long as possible.

Leaves are not the only thing occupying our time. We have been planting! We have a wonderful neighbor, Lily, who is a professional gardener and landscaper. I find it delightful her name matches her profession! She texted us to ask if we wanted to dig up purple cone flowers from her yard, as she was making way for something else and they had spread too much. I dug them up and put 20 plants in our backyard. A couple of weeks later she texted that she was digging up Siberian Iris at one of her clients. She gave us 25 clumps of iris. I planted them along the stream and in the woodland garden. Another neighbor had given us a lot of Iris and some salvia at the end of September. It is such a delight to be gifted plants (outdoor – I seem to kill indoor plants).

As soon as the big box stores begin to wind down their gardening sections, I haunt them to find bargains. I bought coral bells, dianthus, Autumn Joy sedum, Color Guard (yellow and green) yucca, hydrangeas and rhododendrons at give away prices.

While all of these plants took time to transplant, the amount of time and effort paled in comparison to the days I spent planting bulbs. We planted thousands last year. This year Andrew splurged for even more. K. Van Bourgondien & Sons has wonderful prices on bulbs that have been very productive for us. Here are the bulbs we planted (photos from K. Van Bourgondien):

When I write that we have planted thousands of plants this fall it is not an exaggeration. So far the squirrels have left most of the bulbs alone. They dug out a few, just after I planted them, but then the squirrels seemed to leave them alone. And, in case you are wondering, we have very rocky soil so I cannot use a drill to make the holes for the bulbs. Every hole is dug by hand with a spade. Seeing all the daffodils in the woodland garden this past spring was amazing. Spring 2022 should be even better!

Amid all of this planting frenzy we also finished digging the carrots in the vegetable garden. We took the crop and made a wonderful carrot soup. Our carrots were delicious. They had a much richer flavor than those from the grocery store, despite the fact they were not all uniform. Also, unlike store bought carrots, our carrots were quite sensual!

The garden was not the only thing that commanded attention this year. The garage doors were falling apart and were replaced. The house was badly in need of a new coat of paint. The painting of the house was finished in June. The shutters for the second floor were ordered for delivery at the end of May. This was extended to June and then to July. When they arrived I hurried to paint them before installation. Unfortunately, the painting contractor couldn’t hang them and they languished in the garage for months. Finally last week the first two sets were hung on the front of the house.

When Spring comes, the yard will be blanketed with flowers. Come for a visit! It would be a pleasure to show you all the flowers.