What is on your "to do" list today?

Now that fall is here, I am curious how many of you gardeners are occupying your time.... Tell us what is on the "to do" list for you.

Here's mine:

On my " to do " list today, I hope to get some small pots started of Bolivian Jew. I dug up the fuzzy leaved Ruellia and need to pot it up. I uprooted the Stapelia Hirsuta and will let it air dry a few days before repotting. Didn't think these were difficult plants till I started reading DG.

Any one else?

Well since it is currently about -24C here ( thats about -11 F) I will be staying cosy in the house! I guess I will have to take the dogs out for a walk soon although it is getting cold enought they dont mind if we dont go far! And then I will finish wrapping Xmas gifts that have to be mailed and sewing some Xmas crafts. A good day to get indoor things finished.

carolvan



This message was edited Nov 26, 2006 8:41 AM

I really need to get Swiss chard seeds and try sowing them today. A lot of wonderful people have sent me recipes with Swiss chard and I want to try them. Actually what happened in California with the e. coli in spinach was a blessing for us. We are trying different greens now which we weren't before.

Have a good day!!

Thanks,

Chuck

Seeing how one of you is from extreme cold, one from always warm & one from warm now going to get cold, I am from don't know what the heck we got. Podster, I know you're packing up that cold stuff & sending towards us. Coldest of the season coming mid-week. Anyway, all we are doing garden wise is cleaning & storing glad bulbs.
We sold Swiss Chard when Spinach wouldn't grow here this summer. People that tried it liked it better than spinach. Spinach won't grow here in mid summer, too hot, it bolts.
Picture is of glad bulbs drying.
Bernie

I've still got tulip and daff bulbs to plant. It's going to have to be today or never, as the weather is promising to get cold, damp and nasty starting tomorrow.

Nice to know the gardener always has something green on their minds... : )). Carolvan ~ I have to say you gave me a severe (((chill)))! Bernie, I grew up in Mn and still have family there. You guys get cold but I never owned long johns till I moved here. When we get cold the humidity makes it bone chilling to me. When I dig out the long undies, I have trouble going without them. The blessing here is winter is short lived. The blessing for you guys is the spare time indoors to dream, read and DG... I haven't been successful with my "to do's" today so I better get going while there is some daylight.

I got started on surrounding what will be my ginger/brugmansia bed where the dreaded holly shrub was. I got ¾ of the way done and had to quit cause it got too dark to see!

X

I failed with my To Do List. By the time that I logged-off and changed into long johns and heavy pants, the wet and nasty weather had begun. It had started to drizzle and the light fog of the morning had intensified. At least the temps remained in the mid-40's. I was so disgusted that I took a nap. I guess that I'll be trying out the plant your bulbs in a pot and place in a protected area for the winter method of bulbs planting. Geeez.

I got my Christmas lights up!! It's warm here but the cold is coming by the end of the week. Also got my glad bulbs stored away. Had to treat a bunch of stuff I have under light- aphids showed up....grrrr

I got some Christmas lights up too. The weather here has been way too good for this time of the year. Day after day of sunshine and temps in the mid 60's. Usually I find myself wading through 1 or 2 feet of snow by the time I get around to those lights. Also, I installed a bird feeder today, raked out a flower bed, put a couple of fountains away for the winter and had my 3'rd Thanksgiving dinner in 4 days. I'm all turkeyed out!


early_bloomer

X ~ That bed looks too small for Brugs and ginger. It will be pretty tho and they should be protected from the house wall.

Early_Bloomer, I like the feeder. Hope you put it where you can enjoy watching the birds. We love that here.

Marie_ Bulbs in pots are pretty too. You guys have such a narrow window for planting some things.

I didn't get the Bolivian jew potted up but I am sooo happy. I used to use Sunshine potting soil from Canada. It disappeared. One of the DGrs told me to look for SunPro. It is supposed to be the same thing. I have looked for about a month now and today I found it at Lowes. Haven't opened a bag yet but I hope it is still the same as I bought a few bags...
Maybe I can put that on tomorrows' "to do" list.

Podster.........I have several feeders around the house and the new one is the smallest one. It was made by some of the local Amish and the design is pretty neat. The openings actually have glass in them and the seed feeds out slots in the bottom.

early_bloomer

Dear Country Gardens,

This photo was taken on Thanksgiving Day 2006. The plants are for butterfly nectar. I am just trying this bunch of pics right now. If you get a very large size of photo when you see it, please let me know.

Thanks,

Chuck

Really neat! And the birds say where's the seed?

Speaking of birds... you mentioned turkey. On Thanksgiving day, the radio annoucer said you will say boy is that turkey good. We should have this more often. After eating leftovers for a week, y'all will say not any time soon!

whatever I had to do, never got 'round to it. Too pretty outside, so I just sat around in the patio, playing w/ my pets and enjoying the stunning autumn day. There is always mañana.

This message was edited Nov 26, 2006 8:21 PM

Lucky you Vossner! I just sat around inside, gazing out the windows at all the white stuff.
Even the dogs didnt want to stay out - run out, pee quick and run back in so I didnt have to walk them ( we're talking Shelties here too, not much stops them from wanting a walk !)
I did get the xmas presents wrapped and ready to mail and I did finish the banners I was making for the living room drapes.Even put them up!

Vossner, I gotta say I am envious. You had the kind of day I lust for. Seems all we do is run in circles. Maybe someday before me and my pets are too old to enjoy it....

Well, the first thing was church this morning, then spent the whole afternoon on the lake, in a fishing boat, with a neighbor couple and DH. The weather here is unbelievable. Didn't catch many fish, but the view, the weather and the fellowship was great.

Chuck,
Your picture was just fine. It filled my entire screen, no need to move back & forth to see it all.
Post more pictures, there are not enough on this web site! You little garden is nice. Our flowers all have that dead brown color.
Bernie

Dear Bernie,

Here is another view of my backyard taken on Thanksgiving Day 2006.

Thanks,

Chuck

Sign .. my garden is all crispy from the last frosts. I've had enough winter .. ready for spring!

X

X, I hope you're not holding your breath! I suspect SC is about like it is here -- you're never sure when the heat is over with, and then in winter you're never sure when the cold is done! It can be frustrating.

I got a bench for my front porch painted (need to get primer to paint the other one) -- they're both pretty primitive and I'm painting them sage green with darker green accents. Got the roses sprayed (d@$^%d aphids) and put the last of the squash plants in the compost pile -- cleaned up quite a bit. Still need to rake up the rose leaves that have fallen, but it's TOO easy to take a vossner day -- just sit there on that little bench that still needs painting and gaze and dream while I cuddle Her Royal Majesty Brigid the Magnificent.

But for to-do's -- make garden markers, till, snip off rosehips, dirt for the raised beds, finish the chicken tractor...

If I spent as much time working on the house as I do working on the garden...

Edited to say I also need to put out the daff bulbs. I had several orders with Park Seeds and they sent me a gallon bag of them with each order -- I think I have four! In any case, I have a vegetable drawer full of them. But the weather down here can "cheat" bulbs -- cold, so they start to grow with the next warm spell. So I may wait until Feb. or so.

This message was edited Nov 27, 2006 9:53 AM

I've got lots to do outside. We had a light rain here most of the day and the leaves are steadily falling. Hopefully this weekend we can get out and mulch this layer of leaves and cut back all the plants that the freeze got. I need to finish enlarging one of my garden beds. I've got lots of compost and soil to add there. I've got to haul the rest of the rocks to finish the edging. I have daff bulbs that I need to plant. Lots to do!

Lin

Oh dear, y'all have managed to remind me... I have a sack of variegated society garlic that is begging to go in the ground. I also found some more Allium Karatviense bulbs that are waiting patiently in the frig. Need to pot them up too... Another "to do".

Dear Podster,

I know what you mean about the bulbs in the refrig. I purchased some Allium Globemaster and other allium bulbs, Triandrus Narcissi, and Small Cupped Narcissi from John Scheepers'. I got them around the 1st of October. The mail order group told me to put the bulbs in the refrig for ten weeks. My wife has the patience of a saint. She put up with the bulbs being there all Thanksgiving. However, I know that she will be glad when I plant the bulbs on December 13. LOL

The low temp last night was 40 degrees F. I guess Fall is on its way out.

Take care,

Chuck

Chuck ~ Your wife is a saint, no complaints even thru Thanksgiving... I'd be suggesting you buy your own refrigerator for seeds/bulbs. Why is December 13th the target date?

Dear podster,

Yes, she is a saint. I have over 40 bulbs. December 13th is the end of ten weeks in the refrigerator for the bulbs. This was the time period that John Scheepers (the Dutch bulb company) suggested.

Okay ~ I thought maybe you planted bulbs by moon signs. I have read on that and someday hope to be organized enough to do so.

On my " to do" list now is get the rest of the outside plants protected. We are expecting wicked weather by Thurs. nite. I can no longer cover them as I have a new canine addition that loves to help by uncovering. I will have to make room....

This message was edited Nov 29, 2006 5:54 AM

What a great topic. Thanks for thinking of it, Podster. Thankfully, most of our outside work is done for the season and it is off to other things. On Monday I spent several hours pulling dead stalks and cleaning up the largest flower bed. I was able to get a lot of stuff to compost with. Yesterday while I was away my great hubby picked up what I had thrown down and put it on one of the smaller beds that desperately needs amending.

I need to leave for a bit and vacuum before son wakes up for school. I will check back later on and post some more. I am thankful that there is a place to come and throw around ideas and enjoy good company. I hope that everyone will have a great day.

Ruby

Ruby, Nice to meet you too. It seems no matter where we live, we all have gardening things on our minds. Sometimes the sharing helps me get better organized and energized. I must admit I really am a little envious of your down time. But don't think I would trade our generally mild winters for it... How nice of your DH to assist. That makes gardening even more enjoyable.... : )) pod

Well it finally got dry enough to make another watermelon bed for 4 plants. I mixed sand, local peat moss and some horse manure with the good topsoil and tilled it together...making a nice raised like bed.

Then it was finally dry enough to drive in the harvested soybean field to haul a bunch of stones to the end of a small gully to staunch erosion.

Bernie, I washed and dried my glad bulbs several weeks ago.......course you live in balmy Minnesota.

Watermelon beds, yum, yum! I have a friend who was going to harvest his last watermelon this evening. We are expecting to drop into the 20's by tomorrow eve. Brrrr, I need to get the rest of my plants moved to shelter. Stay warm!

Temps are dropping pretty quickly here now. I think the rain is over. I hope so cause I sure don't want to see ice.
Today I have gone out and rounded up all my tall buckets and pots to put over my newly planted roses. Everything else will be okay. I will have heat lamps on tonight for the plants in my plant room.

We are covered over in oak leaves right now. As soon as it's dry enough we will do some major mulching! We mulch the leaves right on top of the lawn. It sure helps the grass. We have so many trees that most of the gardens get a heavy protection with leaves.

Lin

Hi! Everybody!! The beautiful weather for November that we were having Thanksgiving Day is gone! For the last two nights, it has reached to 31 degrees F. The weather forecast for the next two days is 31 degrees F. at night again. It is 67 degrees right now but the wind from the last two days is the kind that chills the bones. However, Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day again. I am hoping anyway. What is the difference between a freeze and a frost?

Thanks,

Chuck

You had a frost at that temperature. I think it has to stay below 28º for 8 hours to be a freeze.
If your plants are nipped, it is frost. If they are dead, a freeze.
Bernie

Thanks, Bernie!!

I can't remember anytime in the last 17 years I have lived here that the temp has stayed under 28 degrees for eight hours. So far the plants are doing pretty well. It is just that I wasn't prepared and bought more that I am trying to keep alive until this wind stops and I can plant them.

I should have been ready. We almost always have a cold spell sometime during the month of November.

Thanks again for straightening it out,

Chuck

Bernie, thanks for the definition of frost vs. freeze. I have always wondered.

Chuck, I am afraid your winds have blown the cold thru here finally. We spent last nite with a/c and tonite with heat. Our high today was 70 at 7:15 am and it is now 29 at 7:30 pm. Yes, it always seems to have a cold snap in Nov. and yes, I always have overdone the plants! I say I won't next year... till spring gets here. : ))

Cold still, but I got a box from the National Arbor Day Foundation yesterday. Stuck the bareroots in water this morning, and will take the afternoon off to get them in the ground. THAT's what winter is for. There are 2 forsythias, and I sure hope they'll take the heat. I'm putting them on the eastest wall I have so the afternoon summer sun won't get them.

Still haven't cleaned and sharpened the garden tools, or put in the daffodil bulbs. Maybe if I can get this forest planted today...

Dear Brigidlily,

Hi! This is the first time since I was in elementary school (and believe me, it is over 50 years ago) that I have heard about National Arbor Day. When is (or was) the occasion celebrated? I can think of a lot of places in Perris that the owners would like me to plant a native or xeriscaping tree. I would appreciate any information.

Dear podster,

I hope that you don't mind but I copied your message to me and sent it to my father. He lives in Bullhead City Arizona in winter and he lives in Orange County, CA in summer...snow birds I think they are called.

Thanks, everybody!!

Chuck

Of course I don't mind Chuck. We lived in Az in the '70s. It was a beautiful climate and a great place for the tourists. Even back in those days, they were known as 'snowbirds'. We still see them here in Texas too. Many travel further south to the "Magic Valley" of McAllen, Pharr, etc. Thought Orange Co. was a nice climate too... sounds like he wants to be closer to a son and maybe wants a change of scenery. It seemed like everything in the desert had thorns, fangs or sharp edges. Ugh! I really couldn't get used to not seeing lots of green out there. Missed the trees, speaking of Arbor Day. We used to plant a tree when I was in school every Arbor Day. Now when I go back to the campus it is amazing to see these huge trees. Doesn't seem THAT long ago. : )