Heartbreaker
October 9th, 2007 by Kristin Green
All good things must come to an end? That’s definitely not my kind of philosophy but it was a little bit true in the Display Garden today. The mansion is closed for the season and it’s time for us to start working on next year’s gardens: Hopefully, if funds and weather allow, Fred and Dan will be able to continue the Display Garden redesign this winter. The Idea Beds are next on their list. Gail and I want to save most of the perennials and shrubs from those beds and decided to move most of them, at least temporarily to the new Display Garden beds (the Ellipse and Stone Bench Beds).
So today we and the Deadheads had the heartbreaking task of ripping the tender stuff out of the still beautifully blooming Ellipse Bed to make room. The Deadheads made the best of it though and cut flowers to take home and some even took a plant or two to winter over. Gail and I chose plants to take in for “stock” and took dozens of last minute cuttings from the garden before the digging, wrenching and hurling started.
We probably should have been more conscious of the resident critters – this mantis found shelter in the chaos but I wonder how many we inadvertently evicted?
Getting started with our first fall project was actually pretty fun and if we think of it as more of a beginning than an end … then all good things must keep on!
October 9th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
I always have to decide in my own garden when the end is near whether to go ahead and pull out blooming annuals that I know won’t last much longer or wait until the first frost knocks them out. I guess in a public garden like yours, you have to work when you can and not wait for the end that we all can feel is coming. It’s a bittersweet end regardless of when it happens.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I’m thinking we’re going to get the frost tonight, so the decision will be made for me tomorrow, that’s for sure….
Kris, will you be posting through the winter season? I hope so-we’ll miss you, otherwise!
October 10th, 2007 at 10:06 am
The beds look so neat and tidy in the last picture! I need to do some cleanup. Thanks for that reminder!
October 10th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Carol, If I had my druthers I’d wait for frost to hit – I’m not really ready to let go! But we do have to keep ahead of the weather to get what we need to move, moved.
Jodi, Frost heralds the start of a whole new season, doesn’t it? I hope you like winter too! And I’ll keep posting (thank you!) and I hope you do too! (It hadn’t occurred to me that people might take a winter blog break – what will I read while I eat breakfast?)
Layanee, There’s something so inviting about a tidy/empty bed – it says consider the possibilities!
October 11th, 2007 at 8:21 am
It’s definitely a bittersweet task. I know my annuals here are looking a little sad, and we’ll probably get a frost in the next couple of weeks, but I can’t make myself pull them out yet. I do like digging, dividing, and transplanting perennials, though, and I’ve been busy with that of late.
Love that photo of the mantis, by the way! Unfortunately, I never see them in my neck of the woods. I’ll just have to keep planting, and hope that the garden is eventually inviting enough for one to stay a while
October 11th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
No doubt the ripping out of the plants was tough, but boy the clean flowerbeds look good! Is that a red Salvia in the last picture? It is stunning … your photographs are always a treat to see.
October 12th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Colleen, I think there’s no reason to take out annuals before they’ve melted UNLESS you need the space for a newly divided perennial! I’ll bet your garden is plenty inviting for a family of mantises – you could order an egg case for next season maybe…
Kate, We left a token Salvia vanhoutii ‘Louie’s Orange’ for the wildlife although there are still plenty of bloomers in the other beds. We couldn’t help ourselves – despite being crowded all season by its neighbors that plant is a beaut!
October 21st, 2009 at 1:15 pm
[...] how to let go because I’m having the hardest time this year. Truth be told, I think I have this very same challenge – Gail might call it a mental toughness test - every year. And to make matters worse, Gail [...]