Last day of November

Winter blows in soon, snow, ice, and misery. Many gardeners have done something to prepare their garden for next spring, including me. But for many others it's the minimum and that will have to be enough when you factor in a disinclination to even be outside in this cold weather (and winter hasn't even begun). I've just been on a short walk and I guess I'm not much of a Canadian anymore, winter fills me with dread. 

Just a short aside; one of the best things I've done is have these fences enclose parts of the garden. The enclosed feeling, contained, and privacy makes the garden even more inviting to sit back there even, I am hoping, when it's cold.

Photo taken on 30 November after a second pruning of these trees this month.

A neighbour had this row of trees pruned, branches and some boughs have been removed; 
my hope is that this will give me more sunlight next year.

Some rose bushes have been wrapped in burlap while this area has a layer of 
leaves and burlap covering it.

Any gardener will tell you of the advantages of mulching; don't discard last fall's leaves, rake
them onto your flower beds; in the early spring you'll see new growth where you raked your leaves.

A year ago I raked this area, I cleaned out dead plants, leaves, and ended up with the soil and a few
remaining plants. What a mistake that was . . . the tall bee balm and flowers, miniature irises, and
even the raspberry canes failed to perform as they had the previous summer. This fall I have left
things as they are and we'll see what grows . . .

The end of November and these flowers, in a hanging pot, are all that is left in the garden despite
the cold and snow we've already had and that subsequently melted . . .