I waited a few days for the snow to melt in our driveway. No snow shoveling for me. We have a 2-car garage but no cars. I walk in the neighborhood – and during the winter months I wait for the snow to clear before I venture out. Being a senior citizen, I have to be very careful of the surfaces I walk on – one slip on an icy surface and it is a trip to the ER and months of pain and suffering.

 

We got 5 to 6 inches of wet snow in our back yard.

 

The snow was accompanied by sustained freezing temperatures for a couple of nights. About a dozen miniature marigolds survived.They are very hardy plants and grow easily and profusely. As the first photograph shows, the plant on the left was grown in a pot from seeds saved from last year. The plant on the right grew by itself from seeds that found their way in to cracks in our concreted driveway

 

The wet snow buckled the stalks as the second photograph shows. The stalks had almost dried up – so they were very brittle and bent over easily. The stalks on the left are pokeweed. This plant has been growing along our driveway for the past two or three years. The plants grow to a height of 7 to 8 feet and provide very lush greenery. The plant yields dark black berries that had dried and fallen off a few weeks ago. While the plant is poisonous – according to the Internet -- it has a history of being used for food, medicine, as a herb, dye for clothing, ink for writing, colorant for wines, and much more.

 

 

Galena, our golden retriever with a curly tail, waited patiently to be taken out while I was making my observations.

 

The stalks on the right are from orange cosmos plants that are grown in pots from seeds saved from the previous year. The plants grow to a height of 6 feet or more. The orange flowers provide vibrant color right up to the first frost.

 

Enjoy the rest of the autumn.

 

Winter is officially supposed to start in nearly two weeks – on December 21.

 

 

UPDATE: 12-22-20

 

Today was the second day of Winter and one of our plants has not only survived – it is thriving with fresh flowers – a total of five -- blooming and ready to bloom.