Fall Garden, Autumn Garden,Cold Weather Moving In

New Guinea Impatience blooming on October 28

I have been fighting back big time this week. I don't want my flowers to disappear. I will fight, and protect, hoping to get a couple of more weeks out of the flowers. I pulled out the sheets and the blankets and covered the tender plants hoping to extend our bloom, but I feel the hopelessness of winter encroaching and though it doesn't happen on the calendar until the end of December it happens in the garden as soon as the light diminishes and the cold winds of the north come rolling in. Unfortunately that time has come.

water with gray sky reflected 

Here at Shore Side Farm House we can tell the weather outside by looking at the water. The water changes color according to the sky, the temperatures, the wind and the time of year. The scariest weather comes out of the Northeast. It is characterized by white water waves rolling in quickly, often very high and it brings lots of damage. Cold will accompany that pattern, we shutter at the thought.. We have had some of that difficulty already this year and it is a frightening prospect when you see the water going that way.

Tender Lantana blooming on Oct. 28

All of these issues effect the plants you can grow and how and where you can grow them. I am trying to figure out if I could devise a way for some of my tender full grown potted plants to survive the winter in a more sheltered spot. I have some beautiful Lantana which is not hardy here. Getting them to survive the winter somewhere would be great. I'm going to give that some more thought....unfortunately we don't have any barns, garages or work sheds to take up the slack.

Geranium hanging pot on Oct 28