Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Winter is Coming! (I know... I'm crazy for looking forward to it.)

My yellow rose is "ever blooming" and it has bloomed all summer. I have trimmed it back every time the blooms were spent and kept it blooming. These are going to be the last blooms of the season, and after these I will let the plant develop rose hips and go into hibernation for the winter.

Our Ash tree in the front yard has loads of berries on it this year. There is an old tale that says that lots of berries means that the winter will bring lots of snow. The trees provide berries for the birds throughout the winter, so I guess when you see more berries, it means a harsher/longer winter? I guess we will see! I can't wait to go snowboarding at Mt. Baker again this coming winter season. Bring on the powder! They are supposed to get snow at the mountain THIS WEEK!


We have three Burning Bushes at the front of the house and they have finally turned to their bright colors. They are so pretty and it is fun watching the transformation from green to gold to a deep pink-red.

5 comments:

  1. I love burning bushes. We have some little ones planted in the front of our house but they're still so little, so they don't look so spectacular. Snowboarding in powder sounds like a lot of fun!

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  2. What does letting the rose hips develop do for the rosebush? I've never heard of purposely leaving them there...does it provide some sort of nutrient for the plant thru the winter?

    Your blog is always so interesting and well put together! Keep it up!

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  3. Hello anonymous! Thank for commenting. Do I know you? If so, it is cool to leave your initials or a hint so that I know who you are! ;) Thank you very much for the compliment on my blog... I try! It is a lot of fun and I really enjoy it.

    As for the reason behind rose hips? When you deadhead a rose, you are preventing hips from forming from the flowers that have died and it encourages more blooms. If you don't deadhead, hips come and the rose cuts back on blooming and puts its energy into forming the hips. it is the natural way for the plant to grow- as the rose hips contain the seeds of the rose. I always thought it was a way to winterize the rosebush. I also like the way they look in the winter because it adds some color to the garden if they stay bright red. They also are said to feed the birds through the winter, but I don't know about that!

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  4. Thanks for the info on rose hips! Interesting :) My roses often get hips on them in the fall, not on purpose, exactly, just because I never get around to deadheading the last blooms until I prune in late winter :)
    As to my identity...you probably don't know me, but I know your mom because she lives where my SIL lives. (Her initials are HC) Also, I am friends with your SILs: V & R. You can ask IOI who I am because I live where she grew up, and I comment on her blog from time to time! I'll sign any future comments I might leave as...
    AC :)

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