A Winter Coat for the Garden

Our Midwestern weather has been so goofy lately.  A couple of days ago, I noticed that my daffodils are starting to come up and the daylilies are making new growth, yet snow showers and a low around 22 degrees are predicted for tonight.  While the sun was shining this morning, I figured it was a good time to use the Halloween straw to mulch the flower beds for winter.  I replanted a few bulbs that had already heaved, cleaned up some stray leaves, and went at it with my bale of straw.  I tend to worry over things like this though.  Is it too early?  Should I wait for the ground to freeze?  What if those daffodil tips get frozen?  But then I realized, hey, it's just a couple of flower beds.  It's not life and death, right?  Well, maybe for the daffodils . . . .

Super Easy Fall Decorating

If you know me, even from my blog, you've probably figured out that I'm a fan of easy and, better yet, easy and inexpensive.  That's why I love decorating my window boxes in the fall.  A bale of straw -- less than $2 -- and a few pumpkins, and I'm done.  Easy and way cheaper than buying potting soil and annuals!  This lasts until Thanksgiving.  Then I pull out the straw and use it to mulch the garden.  In December, I fill the window boxes with evergreen branches, which I leave in until February.