What do you see?

The last couple of days I've been battling a cold and just haven't felt much like getting out into the garden, but I have been doing quite a bit of window gazing.

For instance, here's the view of the driveway from inside. What do you see when you look at this? Do you focus on the greenery? The bamboo? Something else? I'll tell you what I see...

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I see jobs. Chores. Tasks that haven't yet been completed. Take this view for instance:

When I look at this I see castor beans that need to be pruned (I like to leave the trunk and branches for the birds):

Also, some elephant ears to be dug up.

And I see a pond that needs a bit of leaf removal:

Not to mention some plants that need to be removed from the water and stored in the garage (or composted). Plus lots more elephant ear tubers to dig.

And what about this scene?

I see wood to split and stack, straw to spread in the veggie beds, and some potted  sunchokes to dig up.

I also see several small pots of Agave and Yuccas to store someplace for the winter, probably along the south side of the house -- closer to where their permanent home will be next year:

Here I see several pots of bamboo that will need some winter protection when it starts getting colder. Some will go into the garage, but others... I'm not sure yet.

Stacks of empty nursery containers to store somewhere too. They tend to pile up.

Why didn't I coil up the hoses after using them last weekend when it was warm and windy?

Winding hoses should be simple, but not when they're cold and stiff!

Cannas to dig up or at least trim and move into the garage:

Vines to pull down and lots of seed to collect:

Do I even dare mention the front yard?

Believe it or not I really like raking leaves, but I really only like to do it once. That means I wait until they're all down, which makes my yard the last one covered in leaves every year.

I've got a few elephant ears and cannas to dig up here too. I wonder what the final elephant ear tuber count will be... probably at least 50.

Luckily the weekend will be dry and I should be able to whip through many of these jobs. I'm sure it will be much more fun doing them than thinking about doing them, right?

I know "it's not work, it's gardening!", but sometimes it's difficult to remember that I love doing this stuff.


So tell me, are you also avoiding any seasonal garden chores?

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