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first frost due

Greetings:

There's a nip in the air this morning....autumn is here. The message: get
that gardening done!

With cup of coffee in hand (it won't stay warm long), I'm off to the
backyard to complete a shade garden for mini hosta and other small shade
lovers. It will be completed this afternoon. Then I must complete the task
of bringing in vacationing houseplants for another winter indoors -- in the
plant room and several scattered around the house.

The local newspaper and TV forecasts all agree: our first frost will be
tonight. It won't be a killer, but it will set back plants that are not
covered. The first killing frost here usually occurs Oct. 7, so I have only
a week to complete planting. Most of it is already finished. Other things
that need to be done can be later in the season.

Bees are buzzing among plants still blooming. Birds, including cardinals and
bluejays, are starting to flock to feeders put up Monday. Goldfinches are
pulling seeds from perennials and annuals and visiting the feeders. Monarch
butterflies are everywhere; they seem to be gathering for the flight south.
Hummingbirds have gone, as have most of the songbirds.

Squirrels are burying nuts in the garden; they yell at me when I dig into
their spots to plant a new perennial (every spring I must pull out walnut
seedlings, though there are no walnut trees on my property or nearby).

For those of you who predict an early winter by the thickness of the wooly
bears' coats, I can tell you that they're fat and fuzzy here.

The sun, getting lower and lower each day, now sends a few rays into shady
sections that normally lack rays in summer.

Leaves are starting to plummet, but they aren't turning color. Perhaps the
trees' autumn plumage will not be so colorful this year (its been an unusual
year weatherwise). As usual, the leaves will be composted to improve the
gardens next spring. Some of the leaves will be provide winter cover for
plants. I miss the smell of burning leaves; burning is outlawed here.

Enough! It's time to head outside.

Have a good day.

John G. Adney
Marion, Iowa (on the line of zones 4-5)
johnadney@email.msn.com
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