October began with a few gorgeous days in a row letting me empty all my containers. The perennials went back in the ground, while I brought my Begonias indoors to see if can manage to overwinter them. Then I scrubbed all the pots — the ones that were planted — from the smallest to the largest.
The small pots went into the garage until next spring. Mark and I turned the biggest decorative ones ones upside down to winter in place. Since they won't be able to hold water, they should be fine with this treatment. Mark can still pretty much turn these pots over by himself. I just help put the wood risers under them.
They are very big pots. Here's what they look like next to a person . . .
and next to the fence for the winter. Also sitting on wood blocks.
We moved the rest of the decorative pots down to this storage area on the east side of the house. It's a surprisingly protected location with the garage wall, fencing and a big maple tree overhead. We've never lost a pot to winter weather yet. Knock on wood.
I got my work table all cleaned off (except for that big branch) and bagged pine needles from neighbors and a friend by the beginning of the last week in October.
The weather was terrific so it wasn't as frustrating raking up the endless maple leaves from my neighbor's tree as it would have been on a miserable day.
We spent the last nice day — Thursday, Nov. 10th — cleaning the garage, washing tools and putting them away. I cleaned and organized my metal shelving and cabinet and Mark did everything else.
Just as the sun was fading and the temperature dropping the team from Tiplok came to blow the leaves off of the roof on the house and the Tea House. Rain was forecast for that evening so we really wanted to be sure the gutters were not going to get clogged up. They did a great job, including blowing the leaves from the roof off of the yew hedge where they initially fell.
We did get rain as predicted that evening and the temperature took a dive with snow showers on Friday and Saturday. It snowed lightly starting on Monday but it was enough to cover the ground. The view Tuesday morning.
It snowed on and off all day yesterday. Note the snow depth this morning at 7 a.m. My theory of winter is that it will be a long winter if there is measurable snow before Thanksgiving.
The temperature is supposed to hit the mid-30°s today. But the high temp doesn't get out of the 20°s for the next few days. That's January weather. I was going to add more leaf mulch on some of the newer plants and already I can't locate them because of the snow cover. That's gardening in Wisconsin.
You face challenges in Wisconsin I've never even entertained. I'm aware that many gardeners in colder climates go to great lengths to care for tender plants but I'd never thought about the effort to empty and care for pots - ugh! That's a lot of snow all at once. I hope winter proves to be less onerous than you envision at present.
Posted by: Kris P | Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 01:37 PM
Glad you made your deadline! Just in time is such a great feeling.
Posted by: Barbara H. | Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 05:21 PM
My, but you and Mark are industrious! I'm guessing there are some very nice feelings of accomplishment going on at your house, what with everything all tucked away nice and tidy for winter. And, it's lovely, that first pristine snowfall. There's plenty of time later to yearn for spring. Now is the time to enjoy the gifts of winter. There were a couple of other things I thought impressive too: One was the way those guys were walking so agilely on your roof -- I would have broken my neck, guaranteed. The other was that nifty brush you use to clean your pots. Where did you find it? It's perfect for the task!
Posted by: Elizabeth | Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 11:55 PM
Isn't that a great feeling, when you're ready? We've been having an uncharacteristic November dry spell with blue skies, but nasty cold wind. The leaves are piling up (and being rearranged hourly) and I need to get out there and clean them up, especially off the succulents, while they're dry. It's so windy though, only a fool would attempt to pick up leaves, so they remain.
Posted by: danger garden | Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 12:07 PM