All signs point to winter. In the span of one week, the garden has transformed from a fall garden to a winter one. This, of course, means that I am way behind. Dogs come first, and more than a few have had their turn recently. Hurray for…
Marley,
River,
Keiko,
and Dart.
While it looks like the garden is beginning to slumber, there is still a lot going on under the surface. Until a freeze, newly transplanted perennials and trees, and an army of spring bulbs are all growing roots, while earthworms and tiny microbes are still hard at work.
“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle … a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.” ~ Barbara Winkler
All of this will come to a halt when we get our first real freeze. Before then, we need to complete the raising and mulching of the beds to keep them from floating away during our much hoped for El Nino, and to keep the soil temperature even.
Despite removing mountains of leaves, we still have heaps of them.
I rigged an open air container and assigned begged off the chopping duties. The leaf bits will over-winter in the container, creating a leaf mold to use as soil conditioner in our packed clay by spring.
I never mourn the passing of a season. Gardeners always look ahead. Besides, the colors of an approaching winter are beautiful in their own right:
Browns,
faded pinks,
yellows and reds,
And of course – the snowy whites…
the best color of all.
Gardens For Goldens 
Oh such great news about River and Dart!!
It was a great day for dogs. 🙂
Wunnerful, oh wunnerful!
🙂
Great news for all the lucky doggies! And beautiful photos. I especially like the last one! ❤️
That’s our Bing-a-Ling! Such a love. ❤
Nice shots. As always.
still sunny enjoy those days
The garden colors fade, but as always, those pups shine bright! Great to see the smiles all around.
“And of course – the snowy whites… the best color of all.”
I could not agree more! I want to press the “Like” button a few hundred times more.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Parts of your garden may be brown and dark BUT you sure have plenty of smiling faces to balance that out. 🙂
Well said: Gardeners always look ahead.
Beautiful post.
Thank you!
Such a beautiful way to look at winter, Audrey. The garden is lovely in its decline, and of course, happy dog is always the best color 🙂 Good to see those pups with their families!