Happy New Year !!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

A view from our porch during the evening's snowfall ....

Perennial Garden

Today, while strolling through the perennial garden in 74 degree F sunny weather : ) I took photos of the remainder of the flowers that are still blooming.

Clockwise, starting at the top left are rhododendrum, sundrop fall foliage, yellow mum, pansy, rosebud, creeping phlox, yarrow, pincushion, stock, and veronica.  The spicy, sweet smelling stock isn't a perennial, but I'll save the seeds to plant new ones in the spring.  


The rhododendum normally only blooms in early spring.  


Yesterday, I dug out the gladiola corms or bulbs to save through the winter and re-plant in the spring. I'll store them in a paper bag in the basement.   I also dug the striped spider plant from an outdoor planter box which I'm now hanging in the dining room.   

This summer I planted a few English lavender plants and was able to gather a small bunch of flowering branches that I've hung in the kitchen window.  They smell so wonderful!

Canada Geese Gathering

This is a photo of about one-third of the flock of geese gathering in the nearby field, getting ready for their trip South.

Surprise Blooms!

Normally,  November weather in Western New York is cold and snowy.  We all remember "Snowvember" in 2014!  

November 18, 2014

 November 15, 2016

But today, November 15, 2016, I'm looking at the thermometer which reads 59.5 degrees F.  Sunny and warm.  In fact, after I finish this post, I'm going to do some gardening, a little Fall clean-up work that I haven't finished yet.  

I was out earlier in the day and saw something I haven't seen before -- a couple blossoms on our azalea and rhododendrum bushes which typically bloom in the early Spring.  I'm not sure what that might mean for next Spring's blooms, but I'll let you know in May.

Our rhododendrum on November 15, 2016

Our Azalea on November 15, 2016

So I'll enjoy it while I can, since it's only a matter of time before that thermometer plunges and the snow flies! 

Fall Color

Beyond the Path Train Ride

Today we took a short ride on a restored train with a steam engine built by Baldwin Locomotive Works September, 1924.  The engine weighs 60,000 pounds and was built for American Viscose Co., Roanoke, Virginia.  The engine was completely restored to operating condition between 2004-2007.

It was a damp and windy day, so we were glad we had decided to purchase tickets for the enclosed refurbished car which was manufactured in the 1930s.  Our ride took us through our own town, behind businesses and homes that we've never seen from that vantage point, and continued to the trestle bridge overlooking 18 Mile Creek.

On trestle overlooking 18 Mile Creek

Autumn

We have two sugar maples and two red maples on our property which we tap in February for sap to make maple syrup.  The sugar maples are the first to change color in Autumn.

I see the turning of a leaf

dancing in an autumn sun,

and brilliant shades of crimson

glowing when a day is done.

Hazelmarie Elliott

Grape Juice

I picked the Concord grapes from our small vineyard : ) of three vines and was able to squeeze out about 5 quarts of lucious juice.  The house was filled with that wonderful grape aroma!  


After stripping the grapes from the stems I boiled them in a pot to release the juice and crushed them with a potato masher.  The grapes were then strained through cheesecloth to produce the juice with no seeds or skins. No sugar was added to the juice.


I processed and sealed the quarts for 15 minutes in a water bath canner, so they will last for months on the pantry shelf.

Grapes boiling in the pot

Quart jars after being processed in hot water bath canner

Tulip Bulbs

This past Spring, after the tulips had bloomed and the foliage died down, I dug up the bulbs and saved them for planting this Fall.  Normally, I leave the bulbs in the ground, but this Spring there were all leaves and not many flowers.  The photo below is from Spring blooming a couple years ago and I'm hoping that dividing the bulbs and replanting them will encourage them to bloom again. We shall see!

Tulips at entrance to perennial path,  Spring 2014

I planted my saved bulbs in the same location at the entrance to the perennial garden on both sides of the arbor.  First, I dug the trenches about 3 times the depth of the bulbs.

Bulbs that were dug up and saved from last Spring

Trench on left and right of path entrance

Next, I sprinkled bone meal into the trenches and mixed it into the soil.

Then I placed the bulbs, pointy end up, into the trenches and covered with soil.

We have a problem with the squirrels digging up bulbs, so I placed chicken wire over the planted areas and will remove the wire after the bulbs have begun to sprout next Spring.  At least that will discourage the squirrels from digging them up during the fall, winter and early spring months. Hopefully, I'll have pretty pink flowers in May. I'll keep you posted.