November 29th, 2016 looks strange!

Well here we are in that strange season around Saskatoon with November and no snow! This is not a new phenomena but does seem a little out of place! Here is 1997 Christmas day!
It seems particularly ironic since I was able to buy an older model John Deere garden tractor (1980 Model 400 fully equipped to blow snow! Well better to be safe than sorry I think. And we know the snow will come! The other aspect of this is that there is no snow cover for plants which is a bit concerning. With the warm temperatures and some rain, the snow from October is gone! Thankfully the temperatures have not been very cold yet so I think most things will survive. But it will be a test.

These pansies were still blooming at the end of October and into early November. Nice color to the fall drab. I did notice some Johnny Jump Ups as well so we have some toughies growing.

One of my November projects was to pot up a bunch of seedling Lilies which I grew from seed sent to me by a Polish gardening contact. The y grew well and no the trick will be to keep them healthy till spring. Since I have them in my woodworking shop right now with minimal heat on I think they will be ok.

 Trumpet lily seedlings.

 Most of the transplants are trumpet lily seedlings but also a few other Asiatics where I made crosses.

I also have some Clematis crispa seedlings growing in the wood-shop as well as other bulbs and seedlings!

I am happy to report that I also got all of my Irises cleaned up for the first time ever. I am looking forward to spring since I added about 15 - 20 new Irises to the landscapes and hope they all survive this strange fall - winter.




Here I am having coffee on November 8th. Not your typical place at this time of year for sure!