Winter Projects at the Big House

The weather has been very odd today; waking up and going outside, I was prepared for the usual chill, but it was eerily warm.  Later in the day the sky looked like a giant bucket of gray paint being slowly stirred.  One could literally see the clouds churning as it prepared for the crazy rains we got later today.

It was the perfect day for Patti and I to get some holiday things done for the house, as well as catch up on the progress of plants we're overwintering in the greenhouse.  Wiring tuteurs with lights to put into the containers around the pool, a boxwood wreath for the gate to the wall garden.....

In the greenhouse, this is the time of year when things look rather sad; many are still adjusting to being yanked out of their pots a few weeks ago for the winter season indoors.  The bougainvillea is getting too big to keep moving back and forth, so once it finishes adjusting, it will start getting trained up and across the glass roof of the greenhouse.  Since only the lateral branches really bloom well, that's a great way of making shade.

The "Betty Marshall" brugmansia got cut down in late October, and the pieces are starting to root in the bucket of water.  Once they're rooted better, we'll put them into pots to start growing out for next summer.  By going through the process now, we keep the plants "young" for next year, and will usually have blooms by June 1 at the pool. 

The cannas were taken out of the koi ponds this year, broken apart, and repotted.  Hopefully we'll be able to put them out already with some good foliage in late April, giving them a head start on the blooming season.  (Something tells me Patti has hidden a "mystery plant" in that front pot.....) 

Dichondra totally fried late this summer, so it's been chopped back and is just starting to peer over the edge of the hanging baskets again.  This one, "Emerald Falls," really earns its name! 

The shade lovers below are jammed into that trough for the winter months.  We'll separate them out into lots of different containers in spring again.