Home > Journeys With the Authors > Home & Garden > November 11th, 2006

News from the Garden, November 11th, 2006

Today we bid a fond farewell to the honeysuckle. It seemed to be in full leaf early this spring, but I noticed several dead branches mid-summer, and noticed that it was totally dead upon our return from the last road trip. From it's location at the edge of the patio, I fear that it didn't so much die for lack of water, as it may have drowned.

So, today I cut it right back, not an easy job when dealing with a bush that had grown to be about 15 feet tall. There were a lot of side branches, and the lower parts of the branches has intertwined quite a bit. But there was rot in the center, so I don't think it will return with new growth next year.

But as mentioned in Volume1, No.3, I had some replacement plants due to me from the Arbor Day Society. Well, last week I received a shipment of 5 Rose of Sharon, and yesterday the rest of the trees arrived - 3 fruit trees and 6 azaleas. The trees are 3 feet tall, and dormant, so I braved the 40 degree weather and planted them in the garden this morning. I've set up pots on the back porch, (which receives nice afternoon sun through the 6 foot windows) for the azaleas and Rose of Sharon to spend the winter. Come next spring, I can find them a nice home somewhere in the garden.  And I'll probably buy a new honeysuckle at that time, and find a different corner for it to grow in.

I had a great crop of tomatoes and green peppers--I harvested them just before the first frost we got a couple of weeks ago. I still have green tomatoes ripening in a brown paper bag, hopefully enough for another couple of weeks. I diced the green peppers and froze them on cookie sheets before bagging them, and should have enough to last me through the winter and beyond!

Until then, I watch the leaves fall, and consider how I'll extricate them from the wood chips and stones ...