In Wisconsin by the time November rolls around, we’ve usually had our first frost. Sometimes we’ve already had our first snow, too.

This year we had frost on on October 22 and snow November 12. In between it warmed up and I was able to spend time in the garden.

I wasn’t the only one to enjoy the sunshine.

I’ve said before that I don’t do much clean-up in the garden in the fall (you can read why here). But I did want to harvest a few things while the weather was warm.

I pulled the last of the carrots.

And I dug my dahlia tubers.

This clump is from the beautiful deep pink Bishop’s Children dahlias I grew from seed.

I was so excited to have actually managed to dig them in time this year. But I didn’t wrap them for storage right away. Just a couple of days on a shelf in the basement and they shriveled. At least I have plenty of seeds for next year.

I dug out a few of my roses, letting them go after a hard year of battling Japanese beetles. I’m keeping some, including The Poet’s Wife. She was so beautiful this fall.

I planted spring bulbs: snowdrops, species tulips, three varieties of daffodil and two varieties of allium. I ordered them during the summer and had a good idea of where to plant them then (or at least, let’s pretend I did, haha!). With the changes I want to do next year, I had to quickly come up with other plans. I know I’ll be happy to have the flowers in the spring, even if they’re in weird places.

I’m not always good at garden planning and I’m ok with a more flexible approach.

Earlier this fall I pulled out some of the oregano taking over two of my beds. I planted too much but I also never remember it doing as well as it did this summer. While it was flowering I left it for the bees.

With it gone the snapdragons were given the chance for one last hurrah.

One of the reasons I don’t clean up the fall garden is so there are flowers for any bees or other insects who wake on warmer days.

Every year in the garden is filled with lessons.

Challenges. Frustrations. Surprises. But mostly joy. The garden as a space brings me joy. The plants bring me joy. The bees and butterflies and hummingbirds bring me joy. Being barefoot outside brings me joy. Having my dogs with me in the garden brings me joy.

My garden is far from perfect and I’m ok with that. It inspires my art. It inspires my curiosity.

(For example, I never knew that canna plants produced such cool seedpods).

My garden also helps me to slow down. To be present and pay attention.

I’ve enjoyed sharing my garden with you this year. Thanks for following along.

To celebrate my gratitude for my garden and my gratitude for YOU, I’m hosting a seed exchange!

Just click below and fill out the form to participate.

The exchange is open to you no matter where you live. I’ll be matching you with other people in your country, so if you’re not in the US, don’t hesitate to sign up (I already heard from one person in Italy who wants to join — any other Italians have seeds to share?).

I’ll email you with the details of your match on December 3.

Thanks, again, for being here, reading my words and encouraging me on my journey.