Autumn In My Garden by Margaret Ullrich

We had some nice weather this weekend so we did some more yard work. While Paul raked the leaves, I pruned the lilacs and our 2 cotoneasters. Maybe next year the tulips that grow near the cotoneasters will get enough sun to give us some flowers.


The yard looks so bare in the fall. Durng the summer it was overgrown. It's hard to believe that a few heavy rains can give such a boost to all the 'volunteer' plants. How and why do gardens look so neat and tidy in the gardening books?


I've been gardening for 37 years. I have to confess my garden never looks neat or tidy. I try to pass it off as "a cottage garden".

Whom am I kidding?

I plant seeds. I'm so grateful when something comes up. I don't know whether it's from the seeds I planted or some new weed filling in my garden. I let everything grow since I'm not sure what they are. When the "Maybe that's lettuce" gets a dandelion flower, then I know. I've been tenderly watering a weed.


We did have some success with our fruits and vegetables. We had lots of tomatoes. Maybe that's the secret. I bought the tomatoes as plants. Grown plants. No mystery there. Some of them even came with tiny yellow flowers. I dug a hole, inserted the 8-inch plant, covered it with dirt, then put a cage around each and every plant.

I have to admit I'm clueless when it comes to seeds.


Resolved: stick to actual plants. No more guessing games. Buy a plant that comes with a label... maybe even flowers.


Yes, there's always next year's garden.