The Closing Hours

We have been working like mad getting those gardens of ours ready for winter. The greenhouse has been emptied of the paprika's and toms...and any lurking weeds--there are always lurkers. All the marigolds have been thanked for their security service and discharged. They will enjoy their retirement on mulch duty on one of the beds. They seem to be settling-in well.

Here is the very last greenhouse harvest...not huge, but certainly appreciated.


All but two veggie beds have been emptied of their crops and planted with green manure.

The blueberry patch has been cleaned and some older plants removed and newer ones planted to replace them. That was a big job.

The flower garden is ageing gracefully.


...and this view:


The Clematis terniflora grows like great drifts of snow over the arches and racks throughout the garden.


...a close-up:


I don't think that I have ever seen it so loaded with blooms as this year. During the daytime it was covered with bees and a few butterflies.

I had a Cosmea plant that had an appearance that was not featured on the front of the seed pack. I really like it:


Then a close-up off a single bloom:


Technically I am not sure if this is a double or a 1½...whatever the terminology, I like it. Then there was the day where so many air-planes seemed to be flying overhead. 'X' marks the spot.


Then out westward this:


Finally this foto of a honeybee going for the last of the nectar and pollen.


She just wouldn't give up--worming her way in, during the closing hours of the season and day.


All-in-all it has been a good season, albeit peculiar in terms of how it played itself out. Never mind--gardeners can adapt and it was a bit of a shuffle and make-do for me here, but in the end, the freezer and pantry are full. I have to say that it turned out to be a really good season and I am rapt with the results.

 

Beautiful display of goodies from the greenhouse Sjoerd,..wow what a spectacular splash of white from your Clematis terniflora,..your flower garden looks full of interesting plants and blooms,..very nice.

You were presented with a nice surprise from that seed packet,..that's a very pretty Cosmea bloom,..so from the sky it looks like X marks the spot over your garden ,..Bee Buts are always a welcome sight.

 

Its amazing that anyone can have flowers that look that good. I am utterly green with envy ! In the last pic,, what is the flower at the bottom that is curled ? Its the same color but is it the same plant ?

 

Gorgeous photos with wonderful colours! Absolutely lovely Sjoerd

 

Cheers PHILIP-- Those are great comments coming from a master gardener. The flower garden has a wonderfully sweet fragrance this year too. Yes, that was a great surprise in the seed packet. It was the only plant that looked like that, the rest were white with reddish-purple linear strips. I'm stoked. I shall save some seeds, but I woulkd not exoect next years' flowers to be the exact same.
You are right about the bee-buts.

MART--Thanks so much for your nice compliments. That was nice. The flower in the last foto closing up on the be is the same as the one above it--the Aster novi-belgii 'Winston Churchill'. It looks the way it does because the foto was taken very, very late in the afternoon. The sun was just above the horizon, so it was closing-up for the night.
This same plant was featured in the second foto from the top of my posting. In that foto you can see how tall that plant actually is. It is a beaut.

Thanks so much, ISLAND. I like taking the pics, but the plants do all the work themselves actually.

 

The end of gardening time is here, and I find it such a sad time of year. We have already had a killing frost.
Your Clematis is unbelieveable, and your Cosmos are beautiful. I love those little surprises.

 

Nice, S. Just love all the flowers!

 

As usual, Sjoerd, your garden pictures amazed me. You have a nice variety of veggies from you last greenhouse picking. We are heating our greenhouse so we can get a few more vine ripened tomatoes before it gets too cold to reasonable keep the heat going. Your flower garden looks great ( love the clematis!) and, if you discover what kind of cosmos you have please let me know as it is so pretty. My gardens are all done except a few fall flowers.

 

Yes Netty...it is a sad time in one respect here, but where you live you have even more reason to be sad. It will be a long time before you have blooming things in your gardens. I do like little surprises like the Cosmos. Thanks for the nice words.

Thanks EILEEN--Those paps are already in the freezer. We shall be enjoying those later. That Clem was something else, wasn't it.

Thanks CAROLYN.

2OF--Thank you so much for your nice compliments. I will let you know about those Cosmos plants if I discover their name. Good that you are heating your greenhouse...that ought to extend your season.

 

Wow!!! What a beautiful display of nature to welcome the next season. It is grand, just like the closing of Olympics ... love it!

 

Thanks so much, KK-- That flower garden has really outdone itself this season. I am so glad that you like it too.