Frightened Into Action...Bulb Planting

This is a beautiful time of year. The beauty and colors of the leaves are unspeakable. Its almost like they have their own light. Their golden gleam lights up my yard and makes a beautiful view through my bedroom window. The leaves will soon all turn. Their color and light is brilliant. Nature declares the glory of God! When I think of their light I think of this scripture.

 Revelations 21:23, And the city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God gives it light, and the lamb is it's lamp.

So, the snow showers and frozen soil in the window boxes made me think, "now or not this fall." Last year I planted bulbs in maybe January. Snow flurries were falling as I planted. Not doing that this year. Soil in the yard was still soft and leaf covered. I still also need to plant that arborvitae. Bulbs are beautiful in the spring but planting hundreds of bulbs doesn't feel fun. I'll remind myself of this next fall when they start to woo me!

Time to plant.

They say to scatter but I have to do better than this. Lay them with the pointed top up. They're still solid and healthy.

Do I look excited to be doing yard work and planting bulbs. Okay I'll have more enthusiasm.

I have a lot of pots to clean out. Need to get a tarp for the planter and a can of water proof spray.

I drilled those holes weeks ago and I'm glad because if I had to do this today it wasn't going to happen.

Potted up.

The squirrels will be excited. Fresh soil and time to dig. I hope they don' t eat everything.

Narcissus, couldn't get them deep enough in the flower bed out back. I'll try the other bed or pots. Some were getting soft so I hope laying them out to dry will help.

Paper whites for later, tulips for maybe pots on the step, and allium for the front flower bed.

I bought these today for out front and for forcing and inside this winter for some color. Fifty percent off now. Go get your bulbs.

A Nice Surprise

Not the prettiest leaves the Norway Maple has had. Time to sweep the sidewalk every day till the leaves stop falling. I'll try to save them to add to leaves in the yard for the flowers beds out back. Another blogger wrote about shredding them with a weed whacker by placing all the leaves in a trash can verses buying a leaf shredder. This will work since I have one. This way the leaves will compost quicker.

Just photographed last night but they seem to grow more every day. I hope they don't grow taller because I'll have to tie them up to keep from falling over. If they bloom this weekend or next week, the blooms won't last till Thanksgiving. I started them on time but I didn't start them in a cool place first then move them to warmth. I think this caused faster growth. I still have 2 bags to start. One for Christmas and one for later in the winter.

A nice surprise. Thought that winners would be honored at the Philadelphia Flower Show. What a nice honor. Wish my mother were here to enjoy this with me.

Will I go? Not sure. I've never been to Harrisburg but, I would love to the Governor's Residence decorated for Christmas. This is a work day but I can take a personal day for such an honor should I choose to attend. I'll have to decide soon.

First Snow, Paper Whites, and Seedlings

Apple blossom geranium has joined maverick white. They started to germinate 1 day after maverick white. I want more seeds to germinate before they're removed from the heat mat.

This is what Joy does on a cold snowy night. He's a show off. Didn't even move.

First to Germinate & Thinking of Pansies

I haven't been anxiously looking at the seed trays every time I pass by them. Tonight I went over to tap the tray to take the condensation from the humidity covers. What did my eyes behold but, one seed had germinated. Shocking that it would in 2 days. Geranium maverick white is the first to push it's head through the soil. The seedling looks strong and stocky. Too soon to remove it from the heat mat. Only 1 has germinated. Maybe in a couple of days the rest will follow. No real need for excitement unless they make it to mature plants ready to harden off in the spring.

Next pansies. I told myself I wouldn't but I've been thinking about what worked when I first started pansies several years ago. How could I forget? I remembered that they grew in a window. Never became leggy and I had tons of seedlings. So I think I'll try that again. After they germinate, I'll put them in the bedroom window where they'll get lots of light. Light is not the key although important. The most important thing is that the window is cooler than sitting on a plant stand under lights.

When my daughter was in college, I started my first seedling in her window. Everything did well. Many people write that seedlings will get leggy and not get enough light on a windowsill, but people have been doing this a long time. Shop lights and plant stands were not always the rage. My daughter's room was cooler and the cool air radiates from the window pane.  The problem will be, remembering that I have them in the spare bedroom which I rarely enter unless going in to get something stored there. That's a plan for tomorrow. Maybe taping a sign on the outside of the door will remind me to water them. I'll use the seeds I have and not order anything new. Hope there's time tomorrow to start them.

Said I wouldn't remove the lid. Didn't want to jinx myself. Couldn't resist.

An Autumn Day Out Front

Time to change the mums.

Geraniums still blooming.