Deck the Window Boxes Fa La La La La La La La La!

I love to add evergreens to my window boxes and outdoor containers. It is so much nicer to look at during the long winter months. I tend to find a lot of stashed peanuts come Spring that always make me laugh - those Blue Jays! A lot of places charge you incredible prices for fresh Christmas greenery. If you have your own woods, you can cut your own. If you don't, you can go to the public dump and make a haul like I did.

"Haul"

I like to do this now before Thanksgiving (which I love to celebrate BEFORE Christmas). I like the greenery for Thanksgiving - it's festive. But another more practical reason is that the dirt is not yet frozen and I can add greens without an ice pick.

Here are some baskets I'm getting ready to fill.

And following is the finished "decking."

Basket on back deck picnic table.

Wall basket by back door.

Symmetrical baskets leading from front porch steps.
I have left the Dusty Miller and some of the dried flowers -
they just looked "silvery" and in the spirit.

Basket by front door.

Front window box.
(I didn't have the heart to pull out those Straw Flowers
- they are still blooming!)

Even the shed gets a "window decking!"

I also filled a half wine barrel by the "nice driveway" with greens. Every year is something different as I never know what I'll find. Last year I happened across a neighbor who cut back a LOT of yews! And I added some Dog Wood branches from a sorely neglected shrub that I wanted to rejuvenate. Some Winter Berry would be really nice but I hate to cut it from the side of the road - the birds like it, too. Someday I will have my own Winter Berry to borrow from - it's on "the list." This was a jolly FREE project - 'tis the season!

Bloom Day: November, 2009

This is my first Bloom Day! Bloom day is hosted (and created by) Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Every month on the 15th bloggers share pictures of what is blooming in their gardens.

Not much blooms in North Country this time of year. But it has been a spectacular Fall and I am just thankful we are not under snow cover yet - as we usually are! Most of my blooms have faded but are still standing, and a few brave ones are still blooming - incredible. I usually do not "clean up" until early Spring so the birds can enjoy the seeds, and the bugs the cover, during the winter. I still find the faded blooms beautiful and the color of leaves "bloom" in their own right. Here's a tour of what's "blooming" in my garden.

Christmas Cactus (Indoors)

Switch Grass 'Dallas Blues'

Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'

Cornelian Cherry (Cornus Mas)

Evening Primrose

 

Snapdragon

Honeysuckle

 

Sedum 'Blue Spruce'

Parsley

Lettuce Mix

Dill

Sunflower

Strawflower

Black Lace

Geranium

Mt. Bluet

Cone Flowers (Eaten by birds)

 

The last Oak Leaf

Cheers to a Nice Driveway!

While joining up with some friends camping this summer, we met a man who happened across the Polish side of Buffalo. We were toasting and he came up with the cheer "Nice Driveway!" He explained that those Polish folk in Buffalo kept toasting to their nice driveways, or so he thought. What they were really saying was "Nostrovia!" which translates to "for health." Well, I suppose having a nicely planted driveway contributes to my health and now I can cheer "Nice Driveway!" with the best of them.

Here was my spring training past. Yeah, more lawn gone!

Our driveway is almost obnoxiously huge (for the village). It needed some "balancing" but this is not the sole reason for this new planting bed.

Hello neighbor! This is the view from the left side of our back deck. And though we have great neighbors, sometimes you like to grill or hang out in your own peace of space - I'm sure our neighbor does, too. Our property line literally is the side of their house - crazy old village! But we discussed leaving a nice pathway between us.

Meet "Big Bern", my contractor of choice - okay, he's also my husband. And he was hired (translation - forcibly volunteered) for the job of building me a "trellis" or, as the required village permit stated, a "fence."

The ground work was completed first. These posts are set below the recommended frost line for the North Country - three to four feet. We're pretty gosh darn close to that.

Here it is - the finished masterpiece! I think Big Bern missed his true calling - first the shed, and now this beautiful, custom "trellis."

Add some plants and wow, in one short season we have something much more interesting and a sense of privacy. I am still not certain of everything I want to plant here. It will make for some fun winter planning. For now we have some perennials as fillers which can be moved around. For permanent structure, I planted a Ninebark cross "Coppertina" which I really love (that is still holding its leaves!), and an Arborvitae. Both offer four season interest and I was also keeping the birds in mind.

These annual sunflowers made a great privacy screen for this season. Of course, I already plan to extend the bed further down the driveway next spring.

The only downside is that this is where the snow plow used to plow our snow. And the planned snow blower for this winter is now an unplanned new (used) car. Looks like I will be shoveling snow instead of lawn for my winter training. Oh well - here's a cheer to the shovel and "Nice Driveway!"