Bulbs all planted

Eight more bags of leaves have been filled for a total of 21. And there are still more, at least another 5 can be filled. I think we have all the leaves on the street, no one else seems to have any. But then we have all the trees, so I guess that is fair.

Yesterday Isaac and Sarah helped me to plant the 30 daffodil bulbs I bought from Isaac's school fundraiser. We got into a nice rhythm, with me digging the hole, Sarah dropping in the bulb pointy end up and Isaac filling the hole with some nice topsoil. These are planted right near the entrance to the front yard, so they will be the first flowers to be seen come spring.

In front of this Virginia creeper, I planted 20 more woodland hyacinth bulbs. I couldn't think of any other place to put them. I don't like to have those early flowers coming up in beds where there are other perennials, because once they have flowered, you have to leave the foliage on them until it dies back. And sometimes it can look unsightly.  That is why I planted all the daffodils in the lawn, so that the leaves can be left for a month before being mowed and then the bulbs will store up what they need to come back the following year.

And now I have resorted to being the lazy gardener. I decided to "sheet mulch" a strip along the ramp beside the Virginia creeper. I lay down two paper leaf bags, then covered them with bagged topsoil to the depth of about 2". Then soaked the whole area with the hose. This is supposed to result in the paper decomposing and the grass and weeds underneath being suppressed. Which means that this should be a plant-able bed next spring. I figure there is nothing to lose trying this and, if it works, that will be just super. I want a bed of super-tunias bubblegum pink in here. If it doesn't work, then I can simply dig the bed manually next spring.

A shot of the front yard with 4 leaf bags ready to be picked up. Plenty more leaves have fallen since yesterday as this area was clear when we finished raking yesterday afternoon. I just have to remind myself that all those fallen leaves make good soil in the days to come.

Now I have no more excuses. It is time to paint the basement walls.

Fall Colour and bulb planting

We have two large maples in the back yard, quite close to the house. This one is near the garage and the photo does not do justice to the sunlight on the leaves. They look absolutely golden but then I am looking into the sun when I see that.

The other tree is situated on the other side of the house and overhangs the clothes line. This tree looks as if it was struck by lightning at some point, there are scorch marks up one side of the trunk. The tree seems fine however. There is another tree in the front yard that has the same marks, it too is a maple.

The true red maples are now gone; apparently those are the sugar maples and they turn colour first. They were at their peak about three to four weeks ago and the leaves dropped off two weeks ago. Now the majority of the countryside looks yellow with the maples and birches and a soft apricot as the oak leaves change colour.

Yesterday I began planting daffodil bulbs. I have 100 of one type from Vesey's and another 60 or so coming with an order placed at the grandchildren's school. I put 20 bulbs in next to one of the hydrangeas on the far edge of the front yard. 

                                       

I dug out another section and removed the sod from it. But for the rest of the bulbs, I am going to plant them in a meandering path between the trees in the front yard. I think I have enough to do this.

And I planted 15 Glory of the Snow in the front of the bed with the foxgloves. These are pretty star-like blue flowers that are one of the first to poke through the melting snow in early spring. I have a sneaking suspicion that those foxgloves won't return, but there are plenty of other perennials to choose from next year if they don't come back.

                                       

                                             
                                           Glory of the snow - photo from http://www.beautifulflowerpictures.com

And in this bed, scattered throughout, I put 40 crocus. There are another 40 crocus to plant, haven't decided where those will go yet. One gardening reference says that deer eat crocus, another says that they are deer-resistant. We shall see.

                                        

And on the far right of this bed, I planted a dozen wood hyacinths, also known as Spanish bells. I had these in Halifax and they were lovely flowers and lasted several weeks.

                                        

This part of the bed gets some afternoon sunlight; the section with the Heuchera gets no direct light at all. It will be home to Solomon's Seal and some nice ferns next year. And pots of begonias should bring the bed some colour.

                                             
                                    Wood hyacinth - photo from http://www.americanmeadows.com