Nope, not me. I can wait. Winters are way too long here.

I can be indoors any time of year but being outdoors in the winter is detrimental to being alive.

Winter means putting on extra clothes even when just taking out the trash, tracking ice and snow and mud into the house, dangerous driving conditions, choosing between high heating costs or cold nights, endless ice and snow removal, keeping windows closed instead of letting fresh air breeze through the house all day, no more sitting in the shade with a good book and a glass of something, no more barbecues in the great outdoors.
Not to mention all the garden stuff I'll miss: growing things, happy insects, the smell of good earth, harvesting cherry tomatoes by the bucket full.

Winter? No thanks!

I'm with you, Chris. I plan to be gardening into January, like last year. When I look at my journal, it's amazing how late in the year I'm planting out seedlings and moving plants around. As long as we get 2-3 months of nights at 40°F or below, for my seeds, I'm happy.

This month and next month, it'll be gardening as usual. Toward late October, I'll start burying bulbs, cruising the neighborhood for OPL and shredding them for my beds and bins, and working on new beds.

November will be full-blown bulb planting. My order-in-progress spreadsheet is at 2,410 bulbs so far, but SWMBO may put her foot down on that. Whatever, I'll have at least 2K to bury.

December, I'll finish up the bulbs, and putting the rest of the beds to sleep. I'll start winter pruning and winter sowing. I'll bury the last of the potted plants for the season, and spread fresh woodchips on my paths.

By January, I'll be ready for a couple of months of bad weather...no more.

In March, I'll start setting out my first veggie seedlings, and the whole process will start again.

I'm completely sick of working in my garden by now. Maybe it's because I work so hard from April to Aug, that by mid-Aug I'm just sick of it. I'm trying to get up the motivation to do one more project this year. Before fall prep of putting away hoses, furniture, cutting back, transplanting, planting, etc. Argggh. Just sick of it.

The garden still looks nice though.

AACKK!!!! Winter?! Whoa, whoa, whoa, now just slow down there, Kevin! LOL!

Um, how about a nice pleasant AUTUMN first? Can we enjoy that before we get into winter?

Funny, though, today, about 6PM, I was wandering through the garden deadheading here, pulling a weed there, and I thought how it suddenly - really suddenly - felt like fall. And someone today said that they can tell when it's September because of the blue of the sky. I think I agree, and I can also tell by the golden of the sun at sunset and sunrise. I guess it's got to be in my head, but there is literally a change between yesterday and today.

I won't say I'm tired of working in my garden - I'd better not be because I've got tooooo many big chores to get done, now that it will be getting cooler. But I did go and rip out some fading annuals this afternoon, and tomorrow I will ready those beds for winter...

... or plant a cool-weather crop, lol! Hmm, some spinach might be nice...

:)
Dee

Your right Dee. I do love autumn and I guess we should enjoy that first. Unfortunately that season can be very, very short around here. Once I see leaves starting to turn I get frantic unless I'm really on top of all my chores. Folks around here still remember the Halloween blizzard that dumped over 3 feet of snow. It didn't melt until spring. I never want to get caught off guard by something like that again.

That was many years ago and I really wonder if something like that will ever happen again. Winters have gotten very wimpy as of late.

Quote: ...maybe a turkey or an apple pie in the oven.

That sure does sound great! But I'm just not in the mood yet...

This weekend has been SPECTACULAR so far! Cloudless skies of the bluest blue, gentle coolish breezes, nights a bit crisp - gorgeous, perfect fall weather!!! More of same predicted through the holiday. (I have to work all weekend, but there you have it - that's life).

Anyway, this is perfect working outside weather, even if it's just puttering around pulling a few weeds or harvesting vegetables, whatever. I just love fall. Soon folks will start burning in their fireplaces - walking outside on a crisp evening with the smell of fireplaces burning is one of the small joys in life :) (but unfortunately I can't smell your apple pie out here so don't forget to open the window and spread the joy)

Winter!? Geez, I know you live in Minnesota (brrrrrr!!), but even Halloween is still two months away. And technically, it's not even fall for three more weeks!

But I agree that it's nice to have a break in the gardening season. Last winter I put up a Suet log and a little tray feeder and for the first time really got into watching the birds. It made the winter SO much more pleasant, I almost look forward to a season I used to dread.

I was thinking of trying winter sowing this year, too. Just a few containers. Maybe order a few plants for the spring. And of course, dream about the perfect garden...:)

"Just a few containers"...heh, heh, heh.

:)
Dee

I DO look forward to having all the mistakes of this year's garden disappear with the cold weather! And I don't wish I had a greenhouse (or that I lived down south) so I could garden all year; I like taking a couple of months off from gardening. Winter also gives us some time to read garden books, travel without worrying about whether there's been any rain back home, draw up (and revise, for the millionth time) plans for next year, and of course, shop for spring plants.

Cold weather usually comes late here, because we're surrounded by ocean, but so does the spring warm up. I'm not in any rush for it to happen, though, because winter is just too long and there's still so much to do. And, I need at least 4 or 5 more dinner parties out in the garden, with the firepit blazing and the frankinea in bloom. By November, I'll be ready. Maybe.

Actually, I'm not sick of working in my garden. In fact, I can't wait to be able to work in the garden again. After a record-breaking month of rain & mosquitos so numerous it's hard to see, the garden needs serious tending. I am looking forward to Autumn & cooler, less humid weather. I can appreciate Winter, during December & January, but by the middle of February, I'm ready to head south. I'm just gearing up to enjoy the best time of year here in Chicagoland.

I'm with you entling. I am finally able to get back out there without suffering major heat stroke from the heat and humidity. This past week is the first in two months that I can step foot outside and still breathe. I've been turning over the soil and sifting through the noxious weedy invasive perennials the previous owner must have thought was the thing to plant, amending it, and impatiently waiting for my fall orders to arrive in the mail. I hear we are to have a mild winter this year. I hope so!

The only negative about fall and it is a HUGE one for me are all the yellow jackets around. I'm very allergic to their stings and it makes life outside kind of nerve wracking at times. I know they don't just attack people unless seriously provoked, but having them buzzing around me all the time and landing on me is not fun. I try to do outside work very early in the morning before they are too active. After a while, I just look forward to the first really hard freeze.

K

Kevin - did you ever get that Epi-Pen a couple of us told you you NEED? If not, you NEED it, and I'm not kidding. It can save your life.....enough said.

I did, but it's still the idea that they are out there ready to pounce.

I finally figured out they have a nest near my compost pile, so I haven't been able to do any work in that part of the garden all summer. Some of the other stings I can remember were dumb things:

Had my arm up in the air, put it down and one must have landed on my side - zap!

One flew under my glasses and zapped me right below my eye.

Started dividing a peony and didn't realize there was a nest nearby - zap!

The worst thing this summer was trying to paint my house and having those things always around me. Since I was on a ladder over 20 feet up, I got concerned one would sting and I would instinctively let got to swat it. They also really wanted to go inside that hole in the knee of my jeans. I finally duct taped it closed. That works really well by the way for very ripped jeans you can't patch anymore. Not that I could patch anything anyway.

K

This was our first real summer here, last summer the yard was just dirt, and the yellow jackets have been horrible!!! We have killed at least 15 nests on our house or in our fence. You are right about trying to garden in the middle of the day, they chase me off when I'm deadheading nearby ... very territorial. The honey bees just ignore me, but not the yellow jackets.

As far as the change of the seasons goes, like someone else mentioned, our fall is very short here. It has gotten a little cooler in the mornings, so it does feel fallish when I first go outside in the morning, but by afternoon we are still reaching into the low 90's. I am anxious to get out there and start moving things around, but once it cools down into the 70's and 80's, there is a very short window before the nights fall below freezing.

As long as there isn't snow on the ground, and the daytime temps are above freezing, I'll be outside doing something in the garden though.

The vegetable garden is another story ... not as successful as I had hoped. I AM kind of ready to make all of the failures there a distant memory. I'm sure I will regain my enthusiasm by the middle of winter, LOL!

I'm not ready for winter yet, it's way too long as it is. I really enjoy fall, I think it's my favorite time of year.

The only good thing about late summer or fall, as far as I am concerned, is that I savor and enjoy each and every day as if it were my last on earth. I take picures, I enjoy every breath of warm air, I walk barefoot in the grass, I gaze at my "Heavenly Blue" morning glories till they close up for the day...I refuse to go into my house till I simply must. I live in Minnesota, and I don't know why, my husband claims we are simply stupid homing pidgeons and don't know better. I love it here, and I do love the change of seasons, but I am not ready to say goodbye to summer or my gardens...Helen.

Kevin, I'm with you. I am looking forward to fall, and will enjoy every minute of it, but I am also starting to anticipate winter with glee. Hot chocolate! Stew! Sweaters!

I actually checked out a Christmas book at the library yesterday... oh, sooooo sad. I am embarrassed to admit it.

No, NO, NOOOOOO!! Not Christmas! You do have it bad.

My pack rat instincts are also kicking in right now. I'm stocking up my freezer with batches of pesto and all the other fall veggies, fruits and herbs. I love going into winter with lots of stuff to eat that remind me of summer.

I had a good chuckle reading this thread. :-)
Winter I can definitely wait for...Christmas!!?? No...please, it's bad enough when they are playing Christmas carols in the stores at Halloween, let along gardeners on the GW forums wishing it were here in September! lol

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. Now, it's a toss up between spring and fall. I really enjoy the change in season. We tried moving to the South once and stayed for 9 months. We moved back home. We really missed the seasons, more than we thought we would.

Like dtd, I also don't want a greenhouse,or to be gardening all year. I enjoy the break when nothing has to be tended to outside and I can think about something else besides being totally immersed in gardening. [g]

This year, I am particularly ready to be finished with the yard. It has been so dry and the yard just doesn't look as good as it usually would at this time of year. We still have a lot to do before we are finished for the year though. I will be glad to cover up some of the mess out there and start fresh next year.

Don't you think it has a bit of a melancholy feel though, this time of year? There's just something about the different light in the fall. The way it is dark earlier maybe? So different than the excitement of spring returning.

pm2

This is just great being outside weather, but Fall is definitely in the air; it even looks like it with some of the maples starting to turn. Been dry here so it might not be a spectacularly colorful season, but it appears to be trying to rain now. Oftentimes Lake Superior will split the weather sending rain south and farther north leaving us high and dry; occasionally we get lucky.

Lots of compost to distrubute - some thin spots on the lawn and a sun baked bank are getting it first and the gardens will get what's left. Although there's always something to do outside, the big push will come after the first frost. For the first time I didn't do a real Fall clean-up last season, and I was sorry I left it for spring. Will not do that again.

This time of year is nice. During the fall I am mindful of what I did wrong in the garden this year. How things will be different next year. The winter hibernation 'planning' stage begins. Even when I am composting my veggie garden for the fall I am in the process of explaining to my poor husband how next year's vegetables will be laid out. All he can do is shake his head and smile:)

On the other hand some of my pumpkins and gourds are really starting to grow and I planted what I assume will be annual Mums on Sunday so we still have some time left! The change of season is fun either way.

Kate