Happy Thanksgiving!!!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
~Author Unknown

Picking Pecans

It’s that time of year again when the Pecans are ready to be picked.  I got out the stepladder yesterday afternoon and managed to harvest a gallon of these tasty paper shell nuts.  My son was worried I would fall and insisted on holding the ladder for me.  He kept telling me I was too old to be climbing up on things. lol  I don’t know when that happened.  🙂  Of course I ignored his warnings and kept picking as many as I could reach without falling.   A couple of years ago Mother Nature made it easy for me by bringing a Nor’easter through here and kindly blowing all the ripened nuts down to the ground.  Since normally I have to fight the squirrels to get a share of the crop it was a nice change to have equal opportunity.   Unlike those greedy little pests, I was generous and left them plenty to store away for the winter.  This year they had the advantage being able to scurry up the tree early on and take what they want.   And they’ve made a mess of my yard dropping empty shells and half eaten nuts everywhere.  At least while their occupied with the Pecan Tree they don’t mess with my flower bulbs too much.  I’ve found a few Narcissus bulbs that were displaced so they could bury their pecans however.  You just can’t win sometimes.  lol  Hope everyone is having a nice week so far, it’s been beautiful here with temps in the 70’s yesterday.  Have a good rest of your week in or out of the garden.  🙂

Wordless Wednesday – Hydrangeas

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey'

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'

Color for the winter garden…

Viola x wittrockiana 'Matrix Orange'

I have to say my new favorite color this season has to be orange.  It is the perfect shade for the fall & winter garden.  And this ‘Matrix Orange’ Pansy which I added to several containers is at the top of my list.  These cold loving annuals are always on my list of plants to add every October, since they will keep going strong right up till the following May when the heat sets in.  At that point I replace them with summer annuals therefore keeping my containers looking good year round.  Here’s some info on this new selection for my garden:

• Under 6″ in height and 6-9″ in width
• Prefers full sun – partial shade
• Orange to a yellow-orange color
• Blooms repeatedly all season
• Average water needs (don’t overwater)
• Propagate by seed, division or stem cuttings
• Tender perennial with herbaceous foliage
• Hardy in zones 7a-10b

Fall Chores

Here’s some things I really need to get accomplished this month before the cold hand of winter touches down:

• Plant Daffodil bulbs and replace summer annuals with Pansies (done)
• Rake leaves as they fall into the beds as a winter mulch
• Put some of the leaves into my compost bins
• Finish cleaning out veggie beds (done)
• Store the garden decor in shed
• Turn over birdbaths (done) & remove pumps from fountains
• Scatter more grass seed in lawn
• Clean and store garden tools
• Put fresh mulch down in front beds
• Stock up on birdseed
• Cut back Peony foliage (done)

Once all this is done I’m going to enjoy getting some stuff done indoors for awhile and then before long I’ll be looking through garden magazines dreaming of next spring.  🙂