The fall colors are magnificent, but frost is on the way!

I expect most of you are suffering from the same problem I am -- frost is predicted for tonight. Tender vegetables need to be picked. Heavy potted plants by the millions (it seems) need to be brought in. Mulch needs to be spread. There isn't enough time to get it all done. But worst of all most blooming and fruiting is over.
Luckily , we can still plant for a while and the colors are beautiful, but I dread that cold dark time of the year that is coming at us like a freight train.
What do you have to do to prepare for winter?

Well, I still have to learn what I need to do for winter! I think it might have been in the mid 40's here last night and temperatures are supposed to jump back up to the high 70's again after today. I know I have tuck my Hydrangea in, but I'm not sure what, if anything, I need to do with my toad lily. Other than than, I think all the plants I started with this year should be pretty winter hardy. I just couldn't resist buying the other two and figured I would deal with whatever needs to be done. Oh, one question, should I mulch my garlic? What about my Iris bed?

Frost? We got our first 25*F night two weeks ago - and snow on Friday :-) 2 weeks earlier than last year and 3 weeks earlier than the year before. Hopefully that means an early Spring (gosh, gardeners are SUCH optimists!).

I don't know what I'd do if I had a "dark winter" - it may be 8*F out in Feb, but the sun will be shining brightly - I keep forgetting that I need to wear sun screen in the summer AND winter here. Another nice thing about this time of year, the dastardly, desicating summer winds usually calm down. I am desparately needing a green house and solar heating!

I mulch garlic and bearded irises as we don't get much snow cover here (about 4 inches a year). I take the mulch off of the irises when it is reliably above freezing, but leave the mulch on the garlic as it goes from freezing to 90*F within only a few weeks some years and they seem to like being mulched. ... ok, here, everything gets mulched not just because of the temps, but because it is so dry, it really helps keep the moisture down in the ground for the roots. Mulch, mulch, mulch... rainy season is over - we probably won't get much percipitation now until Feb. It'll snow/rain/slush in Reno or Carson City, but usually doesn't make it North or East enough to give us any of the precious fluid.... by the way, I water trees and garlic during the winter as we usually get NO percipitation between now and February...

I wrapped the rest of the trees today - rabbits took a few out by girdering the trunks last year - some will get chicken wire coats, too. And soakings of "deer off". I let my dog pee on the trees, too. This Is War. I was unprepared because the jack rabbits and cotton tails had not discovered our trees the first year, so last year we suffered quite a bit of damage. I've got my arsenal out and hope I can outlast them this year! (There was a very slow moving fire about 20 miles from us this summer - the rangers say that probably no rabbits were killed - they just hopped away - so they have probably now moved in with our local rabbits... )

Pipes are insulated, the space heater is in the well house tank, ready to be plugged in when it starts getting down below 20*F... 104 cloves of garlic in the ground...

All the trees are still GREEN?! I have 2 yellow leaves on the sweet gums, a hand full of red ones on each maple, one orange one on the peach tree, and last week there were a few yellow ones on two of the 4 apple trees... the rest of the leaves are all GREEN? At first I thought maybe I was watering too much, but it looks like everyone's trees here are still full of leaves and green. According to my journal, we were well into fall color by this time last year. We were in Reno Saturday, and the trees are coloring up nicely, there (60 miles away, on the other side of some tall hills/small mountains, so it IS a different climate...)

Most of the summer garden is now in the compost pile. I have two more tomato plants to chop up and add to it. ... and like many gardeners faced with Winter -- I am already scheming for next year's Best Garden Ever! And vowing to get everything planted on time... and to take better care of my seedlings... and, and, well, you get the picture!

And, I am now good down to 28*F without long johns! The first year we were here, I was bundled up in gloves, long johns, coats, ear muffs, hats, and etc - at 45*F! My neighbors laughed (nicely) at me! At 45*F now, I have been known to put the dogs out and wash their water buckets while in shorts and a sweat shirt!

3 more months and it'll be time to start basil and tomatoes!

Take care. Karla

Yeah, what's up with trees putting out one or two colored leaves? Is that like sticking your toe in the pool to see how cold it is? My fruit trees are doing the same thing here.

It sounds like you're very prepared, to the disappointment of the local rabbits and their relatives I'm sure. Rabbits are one concern of mine I haven't addressed yet. I've seen them around the neighborhood, but seldom see them in our back yard. They aren't fond of dog chase I guess. I knew there had to be something good about having a big high energy dog.

You have a lot working against you there... I admire your ambition to keep fighting.

Oh, and the weather station I watch was wrong again, which doesn't surprise me much. It actually snowed this afternoon at my house. I guess it's time to wake up from wonderland and accept the winter is actually going to come. I can't remember ever getting this far into fall without any snowflakes. But then, I really don't have a very long history here either!

Wow, kmom, you are a bundle of energy! You are so prepared I can hardly believe it. I was planning to spend the day preparing for our predicted first 35 degrees then 33 degrees now 27 degrees cold. My outdoor thermometer only reads 46 degrees but it is close to the house.
I hurried up and picked tomatoes, eggplants, summer and winter squash and bell peppers. I brought in my jade tree ( 40 years old at least), my brugs, my meyer lemon, my kaffir lime and some amaryllis. I also brought in some potted basil and thai basil and rosemary. There are still more green tomatoes on the vine. I am hoping they won't get nipped, but I brought in quite a few also.
I noticed when picking the squash that the tops of the plants had been blackened the night before.
Our winters aren't black in the sense that they are cloudy, they are black in the sense that the days are short and I really don't like having sort days. I think it will be more like 5 months before I start seeds indoors.
I really prefer spring, summer and fall. I just sort of go into suspended animation in the winter. Ideally, I would leave town.

I use the Weather Bureau Report on line for my weather info. They have been changing their minds all day about how cold it will be tonight -- at first it was 35, then 33, then 32, now 27 that they are predicting for tonight. Isn't it cheating to predict the night time low at 10pm? Of course, as far as I can tell it won't be that cold since it is only 46 degrees right now. One way or the other, they always have trouble predicting Los Alamos weather -- something about mountains. Perhaps you have the same problem in Littleton?

Littleton being about the same as Centennial, I would guess that any Denver weather report is as reliable as sticking your thumb in the air and saying "Yep, we have weather!"

Yesterday ranged from 80* (high, around 1pm) down to 35* overnight. With bitterly cold rain in between but thankfully no ice storm. We just had all the trees trimmed so we won't have the issue with broken branches this year hopefully, and I took delivery of a huge (3 tons) load of rather "fresh" horse manure which we worked on yesterday. Got about 2/3 through the pile, and have most of the wintering-over compost areas filled up. Rose garden is about halfway "put to bed" for the winter. All in all I would say we are "ready", but let's just hope we don't get slammed this year with 70 straight days of snowcover again. Makes it too hard to turn the compost piles!

Three tons of horse manure! What a haul GJ! Turning it is great but sitting a winter under snow helps your entire garden and your compost pile as well, though the turning is good, too. I have a recent load of manure in my Toyota pickup almost entirely unloaded and layered with last years leaves. I am hoping to get one more before everything freezes like a brick.
I am maddly planting all the stuff acquired at DBG, in plant trades and by mail. Hope I get it all in before I leave for Hawaii, Oct. 31.
After the 27 degrees F predicted last night, my indoor-outdoor thermometer and the raw data from the Weather Bureau only registered 42 last night. Oh well, it would have had to been done pretty soon anyhow.
My brug got so big over the summer that it is going to need its on bedroom! I am glad I didn't harvest all the green tomatoes.
We may have yet another week of warmer weather. Today is cool but lovely.

Forever being the procrastinator, I haven't done anything yet. Supposed to be mid/upper 70's with lows in the 40s for the next couple of weeks. kTalia, unlike Texas where they can accurately predict the entire weeks weather, they have problems telling you what is going on right now here in Denver. With being butted up against some very tall mountains, it is quite difficult to tell what the winds will do, which is all crucial in our weather patterns. Maybe this weekend I can get things going,....maybe.

Shoveling horse manure?? Ugh, maybe I chose the wrong new hobby. I'm sure I'll have to go there some day, but I think I'll just try to forget about that for now.

Usually I am enraptured by fall but it didn't work for me this year. This is the first time in about 20 years that I have actually been able to have a garden. I had so much fun this year in the yard that I can't explain. Learning how to grow plants here was half the fun. Summer was simply too short for me. I took pics today... My Datura metel 'Double Blackcurrant Swirl' - Angel's Trumpet put on an extra foot than expected! It has proven to be very drought tolerant even in a very sunny location.

The flowers smell wonderful. Don't touch the foliage because it stinks. When the two are mixed it really smells aweful.

Here is the last of Helianthus annuus variegatus 'Sunspots' - Variegated Sunflower. 3 of 15 made it from my direct sowing and only 1 was variegated. I have learned to really dislike squirrels.

The last of Helianthus annuus 'Claret' - Red Sunflower. 2 of 15 survived the direct sowing.

I saw Leonotis at the DBG last fall growing with the Hairy Balls and just had to try it. I grew Leonotis leonurus 'Staircase' - Lion's Ear, Lion's Tail, Devil's Pincushion. I got it from Thompson & Morgan. The plants that resulted look more like Leonotis nepetifolia. It really looked like a weed but it was probably worse since I planted it in the front of the border. It is cool anyway. This message was edited Oct 9, 2007 3:41 PM This is Ocimum basilicum 'Thai' - Thai Basil. I switched the pics! It is always beautiful.


This message was edited Oct 9, 2007 3:49 PM

Here is the Leonotis... sorry

Here is a grass I posted before on this forum. The colors are finally here. Not such a great shot, I need better light. Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' - Little Bluestem. The garden ornament I had with it was stolen the other day.

Great pictures plutodrive. I gather you learned about GHB the same way the rest of us did -- from DBG. Where did you get the seed? Kenton traded for some and gave me 10 seeds. His 10 all grew. Mine didn't. Any hints on germination for me?

Wow plutodrive, your flowers are giants. They're almost as big as you trees! I love the flowers on the climbers, but I think I'll stay away from the HBs for fear of the comments from my husband and his friends. My favorite are your 'Sunspots' - Variegated Sunflowers. Too bad about the squirrels. I can see from your trees why you would have a lot of those. My current problems will be rabbits and grasshoppers I think.

That reminds me, is the front range of Colorado supposed to have Praying Mantis? I've seen one three times this week and I had never seen one before. I didn't recall anything bad about them from biology and I seemed to recall that they like to eat bugs, so I moved it out of my way and let it be. I wish I had taken a picture so I could ask more about it on the bug forums, but reading through they say they do eat all kinds of bugs. I hope it's eating all these terrible grasshoppers that are chomping on all my plants. But none of the files I open have Colorado listed as one of the stomping grounds. Has anyone else seen them around? If I see it again I'll get a picture, it seems to like to hang out around my front porch.

I never see praying mantises but I would love to. They are very good bugs. As for the grasshoppers, have you tried Nolo Bait? Don't know if it is available this time of year but it is a parasite that grows in the stomachs of grasshoppers and affects even their offspring. I find it is very effective and is harmless to birds and humans and dogs and -- well anything but grasshoppers. Check your garden store. I usually see it in the spring, so it may be to late for this year. It only has a shelf life of about 6 weeks, as I recall.

This message was edited Oct 10, 2007 7:23 PM

Ok, I'll add that for my list in spring. At this point, I'm hopping the impending freeze will take care of them for now. I've never seen them in my yard before this fall. But then, I never used to have anything worth eating until this fall! If they come back, I'll be ready now.

Checking in here...been busy lately. Here's a photo of the praying mantis on my torenia in August. (I have a balcony garden in Denver.) I get them almost every summer. Wish they'd eat my wasps!

pajaritomt, I got the seed from Thompson & Morgan. I'll probably not order from them again because I think they are too pricey. I have been looking around this site to find some better places to buy from. Anyway, they sprouted easily for me. I sowed them on the surface of the mix. Kept the top moist. Covered the flat with a lid. Put them under 4' shop lights in the basement. I don't think they should be covered with mix because they need some light to germinate.

The only seeds I had trouble with were the Verbena bonariensis - Upright Verbena. I tried it twice and nothing came up. Maybe some bad seeds?

I've seen 2 praying mantis this year. The first was on the lock to the door of my workplace. I had to push it off so I could unlock the door. The second was in my grass when I was mowing the lawn. They really stand their ground. First one was bright green and second one was light brown.

I had a bright green praying mantis living in a clump of chrysanthemum this year -- first time I'd ever seen one "in the wild" -- very exciting! They are beneficial insects for sure, although I don't think they're big enough to eat grasshoppers.

I've been spreading mulch and compost, and yesterday my order from Brent & Becky's arrived, so I'll be finding good spots for the great many bulbs I bought! But I agree with you Betty, I have WAY too much to do this fall. The clean-up will have to wait until the more pressing needs are taken care of. But it's been much too dry the last several weeks -- I watered extensively last evening. My patch of lawn looks terrible -- it got watered, and I just had it aerated. It'll get a thin layer of compost this weekend.

I have no color on the trees yet, but some beautiful grasses, Russian sage, 8' tall Maximilian sunflowers, agastache, sedum "Autumn Joy" and "Matrona", chrysanthemums, asters incl. a pretty groundcover white aster I got from High Country Gardens last year, huge silver artemisias "Powis Castle", desert four-o-clocks, and blue mist spirea. And oddly enough, I'm getting some late blooms on plants I didn't expect -- yesterday I spotted some very nice Tanager gazania blooms, and a few Shasta daisy blooms.

Does anyone have mantis egg cases yet? I would trade for some of those...

I looked around on my bushes by the porch but didn't see any. Of course, I had no idea what I was even looking for. One comment I read said something like a caterpillar cocoon? I haven't seen my friend in two days either.

They look like a puffy dried up marshmallow, usually formed around the stem of a bush or thick stem of grass.

I think I might have found it on my Chrysanthemums...

yep, that's it! you are so lucky!

Ever thought about what it would be like to take care of a really ancient garden?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7040028.stm

Sounds like a big job -- especially having to restore it. On the other hand, think what a great work environment it would make.

I can well imagine! We only have to maintain 5 acres, and I could work 40 hours a week every week of the year and still not get everything done...

I agree. I have a grand total of 1/2 acre if you count both lots and I spend every spare moment on it and am always behind.

It's tragic that they lost so much all at once. It sounds like they are planning well, I wonder if they've considered embracing the new ecosystem (as nature would) and working within it as they slowly work their way out as it had been done in the past. Seems like a lot to have to take on at one time. Greenjay, how did you hear about it? Had you been there before?

I am probably a broken record about New Orleans, but I believe the city park restoration in New Orleans is a similarly big job. There is an additional problem there, in that salt water came in and flooded the rose garden and other other parts of the garden. It also stayed there for quite a while killing many trees and roses. I have heard of garden clubs all over the US going there to help with the recovery. Some amazing plants lived. I don't know the exact state of restoration there now.

Closer to my home, all the woodland areas on the Eastern slope of the Colorado Rockies are completely being destroyed where the primary species was pine. During a similar windstorm, a hug area of trees had been blown down and consumed by the pine beetles. After their 10 year incubation period, they've gone nuts and are taking out 100s of miles of forest. Hillsides that were completely fine last year when I was there are now completely brown. My guess is that the evergreen native pine forests that are being destroyed will be replaced with the faster growing Aspens.

We went through our pine beetle destruction a couple of years ago. Luckily in most areas of the state, the pines were not all destroyed. In fact, they were thinned. It turned out that our forests were too thick and when we had a big drought there was not enough water to support all the trees. It turns out that the pine beetle bores into the tree and it oozes sap out the hole as a defense -- to get the beetle out. Only when they don't have enough water, they can' t make enough sap and are unable to get rid of the beetle. Experiments done here in New Mexico demonstrated that watering the affected trees did just as well as spraying them with poison. It is a horrible sight to see all those dead trees. And if it got them all, that is really sad. Hopefully a few will be left to rebuild the forest. The aspens, or course, help the forest rebuild. They are short lived nurse trees.
Here in New Mexico they are blaming a lot of this on fire surpression. Without small forest fires every now and then the trees are never thinned and then are more vulnerable to drought and to massive forest fires.
I heard a talk by one of the New Mexico foresters and had my whole thinking about forests turned upside down. It was very interesting.

I've heard the fire theory before. I didn't mention it because I didn't want to ruffle any feathers. Especially right on the heals of the HOA discussion. It seems to be getting a lot of the forest, but it will be easier to tell the extent of the damage over the next year or two when dead trees are gone. It looks like some of the seedlings are faring ok, and this is good news.

I have mixed feelings about the "let it burn" theory of forest management, but I have heard some very talented people say it works. Even my grandparents in Jackson Hole, Wyoming saw the diseases in the Aspens ( Quakers to them) and said, we didn't have this when we used to have forest fires.
In the end I think forests will be managed in the future because there are so many people who live on the edges or even in the middle of forests.
As I see it, the pine beetle came at the same time as the droubt and also at that time we had a huge forest fire. It ended up being the same. Only thing is the beetle left a few trees in most areas. The forest fire left no trees in many areas because the fire was so hot.
So I guess the beetle is better.
The down side of controlled burns is that they sometimes get out of control. That is what happened in our huge forest fire. It was set on purpose by the Park Service in an effort to clear the underbrush out of the forest. It did that and burned every last twig out of the forest as well.
It is okay to bring up controversies on DG as long as it doesn't get nasty. Healthy discussion is a good thing. Only politics and religion are forbidden and that is because they are matters of belief, not fact.