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One of my Christmas cactus is early blooming this year. It has 23 buds starting to break open. I can't see buds on my other two plants.
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Well, I can tell you...
Cannas and amaryllis would be lovely indoors for Easter.
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That's what I figured Golden, but I was hoping someone would tell me they'd be OK 🤣.
I do have a slightly cooler basement store room where I keep my potatoes, onions etc. I've wintered over stuff before but they tend to sprout by March, which is much too early.
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cw - I would take them in. Do you have a cold window sill for storage?

Full on snow here now. Everything is getting buried in it including my front driveway. Snow Angels -where are you?
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I still have some dahlias, cannas, amaryllis and a few other things out in my little garden shed and they are predicting overnight lows of- 8°C (17.6°F).....
What do you all think, must I bring everything in now? (the longer I can put it off the better because I don't really have a cold room in my basement)
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Yes, you Americans call them gutters.
It drives me crazy that gutter is slowly creeping into use in advertising Canada, and that spell check tried to tell me that eavestrough wasn't a word.

(And it makes me even crazier when my great nephew insists the alphabet ends with zee😠. Nuh-uh.... it's ZED!!!)
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Eavestrough?

Rain gutter?
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It's crazy mild here for early November but that's okay by me, I figure we're just getting the weather we were cheated out of in September and October. I was out cleaning my eavestrough wearing just a T shirt (er.. and pants, I mean no coat🤣), and I got the leaves that have fallen (about 90%) all shredded and spread over my gardens. 🍂🍁
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Very mild fall here too! Got up to nearly 80 today. We are seeing leaf colors that we don't usually see because snow comes earlier causing leaves to drop. The reds and purples are amazing! We Always get lots of yellows!
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We had a little snow, not that unusual right at Halloween but its about a week early.
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Wondering if planting Crysanthemums will get rid of mosquitoes?
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We've had a mild fall too. But had a hard frost last night and supposed to have more over next 5 days.
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It's been a mild fall here and only a few overnight frosts and it's after the middle of October. We are may have a little snow on the weekend but it won't stay yet.
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Rain today, rain yesterday, and rain the day before that😒. Predictions of well below freezing tonight so who knows, maybe even a little snow (areas near me have already had it). And then it's supposed to go up to almost 20°C by Monday???
The municipal leaf/yard waste collection ends next week and needless to say I haven't been raking, but then most of the leaves are still on the trees....
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Potatoes got dug and pumpkins all in. Ended up with 7 bushels of potatoes. Got all of them out in the attic on newspaper. Grandsons did all the work. Way too many pumpkins. Cleaned two to make pumpkin casserole and a couple of pies tomorrow.
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Thanks to those who offered support for my challenges, which fortunately could be a lot worse, but they're not. That's one of the reasons I've been reading a lot of WWI and II novels, many based on real experiences. I remind myself that I'm nowhere near the nigthmarish situations those people suffered through, and survived.

I did have some surprises. The little blue flowers, the name of which I can't remember right now, appeared again, and bloomed for a very short time. I've never figured out why they don't appear in the same site; it's as if they're a "traveling bloom".

The goldenrod moved again, appearing in 2 places, and bloomed well until just a few days ago. I forgot to collect seeds; would it be too late now?

I really gave up on a garden this year; too many other interferences, but I'll have a good chance to plan one over the winter. Then I only have to figure out how to get it done.

I have decided to stock up on sturdy plastic and solarize as much as I can. The garden is just too big to turn by hand, although I might pick up a small tiller at the end of the season.

Anyone else use a tiller, and have recommendations on which to consider? The yard now is overgrown with grass, but years ago it was tilled by Dad, and I double dug areas that were tilled. Now I have nonnative plants, lots of grass, and still some durable daylilies, but almost all of the irises and special plants I bought are gone.
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Lots of frost this morning, I'm glad I brought most of my houseplants inside early this year. The weather network said we were getting a mild fall but it's actually like somebody pulled the plug on summer because ever since Sept 24 the temperatures have been below normal.
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I planted a bunch of milkweed last year to attract monarch butterflies. Didn’t do much to attract them last year. This year I had a bunch more pods and today I had four monarch butterflies. I am going to order some more milkweed to plant. I reseeded a large section of lawn last year with clover. I have more honey bees this year.
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GA,
Hoping you are soon up and gardening!
I have felt the need to prepare for winter, we still have a little time.

Looking forward to Spring! 🌱
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GA, sorry to hear you are having health struggles, wishing you some sunnier days ahead!
I was just outside, September is just another month of summer here, hot and humid, looking at my limelight hydrangeas. They have such long lasting blooms and when it’s finally fall, the blooms turn a pretty golden brown. I’m looking forward to cooler temps next month and being able to plant snapdragons and pansies that will bloom all winter. To get spring tulips I buy a 50 count bag and let them have a nice 6 week winter in the fridge then plant them in January. They bloom beautifully in March but sadly never return and I’m way too lazy to dig them up and store them.
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GA, hope you feel better and have continued improved health.

We are just getting into our gardening season and I am a happy camper. I am so over this heat. Looking forward to being outside without melting.

This summer was so hot that even my watermelon and cantaloupes didn't produce very well, not enough pollinators in the heat.
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Even though it's still hot here, Fall is asserting its dominance and creating beautiful scenes in the highway medians and in the woods along the more rural areas. The colors are always so lovely, and so soothing. It's as if the trees are preparing for winter and encouraging us to do so as well.

I'm enjoying seeing the extensive hydrageas along my regular routes as some cling tenaciously to their summer colors, and others bow to the changing weather.

Gardening for me this year just didn't happen; too many health issues to even try. But there's always next year!
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Be careful what you do in the garden.

The potatoes have eyes,
the corn has ears,
and the beanstalk.

🤣
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I was pleasantly surprised that most of my plants survived my 2 week absence, only the zinnias in the front yard were completely dead although everything else looked desperate for a drink. I had given up on that zucchini I planted but it sprouted while I was gone - it's very late so it will have to be coddled if I want anything from it. Some of my beans are re blossoming, I'm letting the rest go to seed. And I may get a few peppers and tomatoes.
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The English Garden magazine for November has arrived.
Just wonderful!
Better than therapy.
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My small backyard has become my personal oasis since I began caregiving for my parents, 92&94 years old. Until I read this post, I never thought of it as therapy, but it definitely is. My personal activity, besides the general lawn care, is building fairy gardens. I have the outer edges of the yard fairyscaped by Spring...stumps, Goodwill finds, rocks, miniature houses, mushrooms, etc. Then when I get a visit from my granddaughters, I give them a box of fairy figurines and tiny accessories which they spend their visit setting up and playing with during their stay. After their visit, I have the most interesting gardens and spend the rest of the summer discovering the intricate settings and playing in them myself :) This involves a bit of bonsai pruning and maintenance of plants. This year I discovered that persistent pruning of the larger leaves from a morning glory vine (impossible to keep out at this point) will keep all the leaves small...they look beautiful and delicate in their setting. Then there's reading my book in my garden with my morning coffee, garden parties with my girls, and the joy of actually keeping old and new plants alive...to quote Sendhelp,'this activity has nurtured my soul over the years.' Love this thread. Happy gardening to all!
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Had a little trouble finding this thread, because someone started a new one:
"Gardening as Therapy, any advice". 😡

This thread, and the people posting here have nurtured my soul over the years.
There is also so much good advice!

So, even though it is so very hot-too hot for new plants, I am preparing two new, larger square planters. Drilling holes, adding cut up pool noodles in the bottom to save on rocks and potting soil. Then, will just place a smaller plant in a small pot on top, until the heat passes, maybe in October.

Has anyone heard from Garden Artist? Hope that she is still nurturing her own garden, and dreaming of Spring planting ideas.
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Corn will ready by midweek. The rest of the garden has been very good this year. Just wish I could get out in the dirt myself. But My DIL and her dad have done a lot of work for me.
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A few weeks ago I saw a post from someone that had snapped one of those little clam shell plastic containers left over from berries he'd bought over his ripening strawberries in order to protect them. I thought that was a brilliant idea and pulled one out of my recycling and snapped it over some blossoms on an ever bearing strawberry plant - then I promptly forgot all about it. Today I found a beautiful big strawberry inside, the only one I've picked this year😄🍓

I also dumped out my pot of potatoes: I've got a nice respectable 10 spuds, 4 of which are a good tennis ball size🥔.
I planted some zucchini in the pot, I know it's late but I've got the seeds so I figured I may as well try.
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Delphiniums seem to like northern Alberta. We are zone 2 though some zone 3 plants survive here.. My main delphinium plant has been here for years and years and seeded many babies which are adults now. At one point I had a dark purple blue, a baby blue and a white one as well but they didn't survive more than a few years. This one is what I call an electric blue - a very vivid colour.

A friend in Edmonton had an enormous pale blue delphinium which she decided had to go when she had her garden landscaped to be more senior friendly. I was there when the guys were digging it up. The roots went down to China. They had to dig an huge hole to get it out. I was sorry to see it go.

Hoping delphiniums will do well on the cottage lot. It is zone 4a which gives me lots more options but the colder winters lower that to 2 or 3.

cw - I love lilacs - the leaves as well as the flowers. I am sure you found a spot for it.
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