Away For a Bit

I would love to be blogging about plants right now. I am doing not much more than admiring the houseplants at the moment.
When I least expected it, I had one of those rare, very bad complications to a simple medical procedure. Isn't it true that you always imagine the 0.5% of people never will include yourself? I hope to have my normal life back sometime soon, since my family and plants need me! If I look at in a hopeful way, at least it is winter here now, with snow on the ground and no gardening left to do. I even heard a group of snowmobiles roar by, using the skimpy layer of snow as an excuse to get out. As for myself, I will stay strong and not turn to compost any time soon.

A Dry and Crusty Fall

Firstly, I would have posted last week had my computer not died and gone off to the computer repair shop. I'm borrowing RLM's laptop to do this post, but hope to have the old Apple back soon.

The snow from last weekend has melted and evaporated away, leaving all the perennials dead and crusty with a few hardy exceptions. The fall aster (Aster dumosus) and stonecrop look good yet. Also, the Gentiana septemfida is attempting a bloom, though nothing like its fabulous multi-bloom shows of previous years. Of course, I did divide it last fall, so I didn't expect much.
Gentiana septemfida:

With the early snowfall, I think the colors on the trees didn't develop as well as usual, and now the leaves are all dry and drab. Oh well. I'm dedicating my time now to the indoor plants, reviving my interest in the aquarium (mostly involves spending money on it), and spending quality time with the composting worms.

With inspiration from my aquarium-crazy brother, I've decided to upgrade the fluorescent lights on the aquarium. This got me to thinking about the lights on my plants. Why do the plants deserve any less than the pea-brained fish? Then again, I'm thinking of upgrading the aquarium lights to allow plants to grow in there, so really, it's all about the plants anyways. I'm looking at the power compact fluorescents, specifically the Coralife high output T5 65W 6700K bulbs and a fixture to hold them. Is there anyone out there using these for their plant setup? Let me know if you've heard of such a thing.

Snowman! Well, not quite yet.

The two year old assistant gardener first noted the new white carpet outside this morning. Her perspective was definitely more positive than the comments from most of the adult prairie folk who are watching snow fall today. I was reminded by the assistant gardener that we must keep a carrot and hat on hand at all times for the accessorizing of snowmen. Noted.

This snowfall finally took the petals off my corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas), which had actually still been looking rather colorful and showy. Oh well. It is October and we're in northern Saskatchewan.

At least the onset of winter makes gardening a non-option for the upcoming months. No need to feel guilty for not accomplishing anything out there now! I was thinking of it like losing your job and hearing this message: "We're sorry, you did a good job this past summer and all, but...we have to let you go. We've moved production to Mexico. We couldn't keep going in the current local conditions. You can clear out your pots and say goodbye." Here's to the excitement of houseplants for the next seven months. Gosh, don't you love Canada?