Coppertop in Early November
Well, hello there! I’ve taken a very long break from garden blogging. The six-week break was initiated by travel, then continued, allowing precious time with family. Lack of writing caused a general malaise to develop in me about all things garden, and that was furthered by the change in seasons as dormancy approaches. Yet, it’s been beautiful here at Coppertop, with dahlias still doing their thing, leaves changing color and falling, perennials requiring digging and dividing, and bulbs still calling out to be planted.
Two days ago I finally emptied out all my greenhouse tomato pots with Son’s help, but not until the plants gave a couple more good harvests, providing the base for some luscious marinara.
Yesterday I began cutting back the dahlias, even though the plants haven’t browned since our frosts have been on the mild side. I’ll leave half of my 150+ tubers in the ground (raised beds) with protection, but someone has to dig the others! This bouquet is one of the last and features some of my favorite purples of the year. I am thankful for four months of gorgeous dahlia blooms.
And did I mention the leaves? Autumn is glorious.
Monday, as I divided perennials for a May 2019 plant sale and dug tender perennials to get them into sheltered locations, I came across this blooming geum ‘Mrs. J Bradshaw’. November continues to delight.
Gardens at Coppertop 
March,all your hard work, dedication, and passion have made your garden a place of splendour year round. A few of my flowers continue to bloom – the coreopsis, corn flower, and gaura. The Anna’s hummingbirds are also delighted at the blue blossoms that my rosemary bush keeps putting out. The amazing thing about having a garden is that one never stops learning and discovering.
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I can picture those hummingbirds up at your home, Sabine. How lovely! Thank you for your encouragement. It has made returning to blogging an easier endeavor.
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Fall does bring a rush to get certain things attended to. I still need to get the Cannas cut and covered for the winter. We had two very early snows which were completely unexpected. Now I have to wait for the snow to melt before I can mulch the Cannas. Very true that with gardening (and nature) one never stops learning and discovering.
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Ah, your unexpected snow reminds me of last year here. Our fall garden task list never feels quite completed, yet we need the rest winter offers. Thank you for your wise words.
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Beautiful colours. Welcome back, it’s lovely to see snapshots of your beautiful garden again
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Thank you!
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Such lovely fall colors in your garden. It sounds like you have had a good time while away. Isn’t it wonderful how our gardens always welcome us back with such beauty.
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Thank you! Yes, Lisa, my garden waited so patiently for my return. 🙂
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The fall colors look exceptional this year, and your deck really provides an awesome viewing point!
I can’t even think of all those dahlia tubers needing digging. I rushed out before the snow this afternoon and dug just a few plus some cannas, and thought I had done more work that I did all last week. Nice to have it done though…. even if it was a last minute, forced labor!
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Digging isn’t too bad with the proper tools and soft (not dripping yet) soil. I bought myself my first English Haws tool — a border fork — for the occasion! Woopwoop!
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I was just about to ask if I had missed your articles when you answered the question in the first sentence.
You autumn does not seem to be any earlier than ours. That seems to be a common theme. We normally get it last here, but this year, we seem to be on the same schedule as everyone else. We do not have color like yours of course.
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It was a nice break, but it’s good to be back at posting, Tony. I’ll catch up with the reading soon. Thinking of all of you in CA with the fire devastation and heavy smoke. I flew into SFO twice in the past month, and last Thursday saw just the beginnings of the awful smoke. Take care.
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Actually, we had only a few days without smoke since all this started. We had our only local fire before the Camp Fire started. Ours was not serious, but filled the San Lorenzo Valley with smoke.
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Gorgeous photos! Welcome back. The last tomatoes are always a treat.
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Thank you, Cynthia! Yes, they were yummy.
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