Besides fill about 60 orders at work... yikes...

I've got 20 hostas and a ligularia coming this week. I planted all my fall bulbs already unless more sneak into my cart, you never know. I have an area in the new garden that needs some fill, and I'd like to topsoil it all to cover the dead grass but that's not likely to get accomplished.

Then it's just routine raking, and covering my roses for the winter. I'm scared with the dry summer we've had that snowfall could be scant. I really hope not...

Planting! Pak choi, spinach, claytonia...a lot of stuff to get planted before it's too late. I hope I'll get greens around Halloween.

northspruce, no need to worry. The long range forecast calls for a very harsh, cold, snowy winter (definitely for the first half, less certain for the second half) for western and central Canada, much like 2007-08.

I have bulbs coming from Botanus and a few lilies coming from the Lily Nook. There will be the usual dumping containers and storing begonia tubers. There are still potatoes and carrots to dig, a few tomatoes left enjoying the nice weather this week, and some beets and swiss chard that we'll just eat. I have one rose left to plant and that's waiting for dh to do the small deck he wants to put in front of the porch - hopefully in the next week or so. I also want to move a clematis from a too-shady spot and plant it with the rose. Oh, and put my semps into the ground for the winter. Hmm, what else. There's another little rose bush in a container that i'll overwinter in a small holding bed, and three containers of lilies that i'll bury in the vegetable garden once that's cleaned out and tilled. And there'll be leaves to rake and dump on some of the beds and around the roses for winter protection.

I'll also need to clean out the shed a bit in order to get all my planting trays in there on the shelves, as well as hanging baskets and a few other containers that shouldn't be outside for the winter.

I have a few other things i might do, but they depend on time and weather and aren't urgent - they can be done in the spring.

The past few years, we've been having nice long falls, which i love because you can enjoy them as well as get all your pre-winter chores done. Now if only we could have nice long springs to balance them out - starting, say, at the beginning of March? :>

I am so far behind, I think I'm first! Still so much to do and so little time! Plant 6 sedum, 20ish irises, 14 hostas,250 DLs and all of these are in pots. I have 3 shrubs to pot up for the winter and a dogwood to transplant into a bigger pot. About 150 tulip bulbs, assorted small bulbs, and about 2 dozen daffs. Another order of lilies coming to total about 12 and 3 lilies to move from various sites around the yard. Carrots to dig and turf to till up yet. Of course this does not include clean up of the yard and weeding of the back 40! Good thing we are having awesome weather! I can only get done what I can get done! So blessed to be busy and able! :)

Revisiting this post because it seems i'm almost done with things, and that's before the end of October. Wow - amazing! I felt like i was really far behind too, but the only thing left is to cut back a few things here and there. The begonia tubers are inside drying out, and i'll put them into bags and bring them out to the garage this week. Other than that - guess i'll be heading back out there soon to rake more leaves!

Lets not forget to protect our trees and shrubs from those d*** voles/moles. I had enough of that last year. Still have a few shrubs to cage up, I just put the wire around the bottom few inches that way the shrub has a better chance at survival. Some of mine have just come back and I don't want to lose them again! Marg

Oh dear! I'm afraid I am not much further ahead than a few weeks ago. Last week was full of family crisis and not much in the way of garden work. This weekend my DH is sick and I am not far behing him. Good ol arthritis acting up too! Yech!

I got about 50% of the bulbs in, DLs from pots~ about 50 of them, still have a few hostas to plant and clean up. Carrots are in and irises from pots are planted. Just received backorder of lilies from Veseys. I'll have to leave the back 40 till spring I guess! :)

Ginny

Well, I've made a little progress but not as much as I'd like.

I managed to plant one of the shrubs, dug a hole in the clay to sink 4 other ones, dug a hole in a sheltered spot at the front and sunk the hydrangea, so I have one shrub left. Two of the hostas are buried next to the hydrangea. I planted a few of the perennials in the middle of my annual bed but they'll be moved in the spring. I also busted my butt and dug my new 4x4 vegetable garden so that I'd be ready for spring, but I ended up having to plant it full of tulips and garlic, LOL ! My neighbour gave me some hens and chicks and irises, and another neighbour gave me a perennial aster (?), so I've plunked them near the side of the fence where the stupid yarrow wants to grow. Last year I didn't get my pots washed out and put away, so I'm determined to do that this week. That leaves me one shrub, a hosta, and a few other perennials still to plant.

Marcia, raking leaves is so "yesterday", LOL! I mow mine with a bagged mower =:) So much faster.

Hmmm. I bought some traps in case the voles return, but maybe I should cage a few of my favourite trees. Marg, what do you use?

What do you do with your leaves, Gil? I use them as mulch, so i rake them up, put them in those pumpkin leaf bags until Halloween, and when the ground freezes, i dump them in various places and pile them around some of the roses.

I use mine for mulch too. I only collect clean, dry ones and keep them in bags until freeze-up. Last year we had a wind storm and my yard had no leaves left to rake, so they gave me some bags from the cemetery. I know they're clean there because no dogs are allowed. ;0)

I caught DH putting my @#&* leaves out with the garbage today. I already told him twice that I wanted to keep them but he forgot. Lucky for him I noticed! >:O

Oh, those DHs! LOL I think i tried once to collect leaves with the lawnmower, but didn't have much success for some reason. And in any case, by the time there are leaves on the ground my DH has all the lawnmowers winterized and put away. So i rake! Good exercise!