Wednesday, October 07, 2009

First Snow!

I first noticed the snow today on Facebook. It was only when a friend's status update mentioned the snow that I got up from the computer and looked out the window. My goodness, there were tiny white floating flakes falling from the sky! I think many areas of the prairies saw a little bit of the white stuff today. Besides snow in the sky, two fighter jets roared over our house today. They were flying north, though I can't imagine what exciting destination they were speeding off to.
Alpine garden, which looks remarkably attractive at this time of year:

I have noticed that few of the alpines go brown and ugly in fall, leaving this bed more attractive than the big perennial beds right now. The little succulents simply change to reddish shades as the weather cools.

The sloped bank of sedum turns red for fall and winter, coordinating well with the surrounding forest and its colorful deciduous trees. RLM cleaned up this bank by beheading the dead brown flowers with the weed whipper.

I did get some bark mulch from the local store before they cleared it out for the season. Unfortunately, I didn't benefit from any end-of-season sale prices, but at least I got some before we welcome the snow. I really appreciate how the mulch keeps the weeds down, as I hate crawling under the low branches of the mountain ash tree to pull weeds. I'd rather spread mulch once a year than get the tree droppings tangled in my hair on a regular basis.


I blogged earlier this year about this patch of perennial border that I have never really liked. I replaced a messy mass of dianthus and moved a peony from a hidden spot in the yard to the center of this area. The hostas look decidedly nicer in the fall than those other perennials that lose their aesthetic appeal after flowering (like the dianthus). I dragged the hostas, Brunnera, and Alchemilla mollis from other areas of the yard and then underplanted the area closest to the front with about 20 Anemone blanda bulblets.

7 comments:

Noelle Johnson said...

Your garden looks so beautiful for this time of year - although I am no expert in regards to what it should like right now.....I live in Arizona.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

I really like the changes you are making to your perennial border.

So nice to have things that carry well into fall. I think the bank of sedums looks fantastic.

Oh, and I didn't hear you say *snow*. No, I didn't. :)

RURAL said...

Everything looks very tidy, you must have done a cleanup before you shot the photos. Let's hope that the snow is only a one of. I know, get real.

They played the first Christmas carol at work last week, so I guess it is all inevitable.

Jen

Barbarapc said...

Isn't it a strange world - learning about your weather by reading a friend's Facebook updates. The garden is looking excellent. That is the best looking Mountain Ash I've ever seen - obviously you don't have problems with the blight that we do down here. What a brilliant colour.

Svetla said...

primula a. question: I want to try Viennese Waltz from T&M. How did it you go for you? I tried denticulata from them and I failed 4 times in a row -- zero germination.
Thanks

Gardenista said...

azplantlady - Ha! I read Arizona garden blogs and it seems like gardening on another planet to me.


Svetla - I have tried so many times to germinate P. auricula with NO success! Denticulata also had low germination rates but I did eventually grow three of them. I sowed them in a pot, enclosed it in a ziploc bag, put into fridge for 3-4 months, then under lights at room temp. Auriculas never worked with this same treatment though.

Kyna said...

What a beautiful yard you have!

My mother's family is all from Buffalo Narrows, SK, just a bit west of La Ronge. None of the yards I've seen there look like that lol. Where there isn't forest, there just seems to be a lot of sand and rock. :)