Well…it happened! We finally had a heavy frost/freeze. When the sun hit the flowers yesterday, they gave up. This happens every year in Pennsylvania, we just never know exactly when that first killing frost will occur. Bert will be busy today pulling out all the plants that need to go, or cutting them off at ground level. The only things left in the garden will be the lavender and the carrots. The lavender will be fine over the winter as they are. We will continue to pull the carrots as we need them. I suspect they’ll all be out of the ground by Thanksgiving. Here are the last pictures of our 2024 garden.
The leaves continue to drop but the redbud leaves seem to hang on for a while. The butternut tree behind and to the right is not very healthy, so it’s been dropping leaves for a month.
The marigolds and zinnias were spectacular this year but the frost finally got them. Bert is pulling them out today.
The geranium baskets finally gave up. Time to go!
The lavender will be fine all winter. The carrots might make it until Thanksgiving.
Carrots
One of the biggest jobs is to empty the big water tank. It can’t have any water in it over the winter. Bert put the rain barrels away in the shop last week.
And finally, the echinacea has been dropping seeds and all we have left are the sharp seed pods. Bert will wear heavy gloves and cut them off at the ground with his big clippers.
It always feels kind of sad to clean up the garden beds but right after Christmas the seed catalogs start arriving so we can start thinking about next year! Enjoy!
Leave the flowers especially the echinacea. The birds love the seed heads.