Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, November 8, 2010

Getting Ready for Winter

On Thursday,  George and I spent the day getting ready for a FRIGID weekend on the Cumberland Plateau....  This will be our FIRST freeze--and you know what that means.  Our 2010 Roses are gone for the year!!!! Sigh!  But--that will just give me something to look forward to in the spring!!!!!

Here are some pictures showing what we have done to prepare for winter on the Cumberland Plateau.  Above is a picture showing some of my 10 potted plants and hanging baskets that I de-bugged and brought inside for the winter.  This area is in the Dining Room next to one of the sliding glass doors...  They will stay warm --and yet get some sun in winter... (I tried keeping some of my plants in the garage last year,  but it was too cold for them there.)  Below are more!!!!




How many women out there have about 40 gorgeous rose blooms or buds in their home at the same time?????   I DO!!!!!!   George cut and brought in all of the Roses from the yard on Thursday...  The picture above shows ALL of them ---but I now have them spread around the home in several locations... SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!  (I will miss them when they are gone!)  NOTE:  You can see some of the hanging baskets to the left in the photo.




Here is a photo of one of our 3 Reblooming Irises ---which are so pretty right now... Aren't they just gorgeous?   I hate to see them get frozen... SO--you'll have to look at the next picture to see what we did.





We are trying to save these 3 Irises --at least for awhile longer (until winter sets in permanently)... SO--we have bagged them in hopes of saving them --through these next 3 cold nights... I'll keep you posted as to whether this works or not.. I've never had Irises blooming this late in Fall--so this is a new one for me.






You have seen alot of pictures of our home recently --looking at all of the big trees in the back yard.  Here's one more (above) taken this past Thursday --showing that most of the leaves are either down --or ready to come down.. Winter is coming to the Glade!!!





Here is my HERO.... George is doing his husbandly duty at our woodpile --splitting wood and then bringing several stacks to the garage... Those warm fires in our fireplace in this kind of weather don't just happen!!!!!   I am a fortunate woman to have a man who takes care of that for us...   He knows how much I love those roaring fires.






Here's a picture of the maple tree in our front yard... The Maples in our area have shown their colors off and on all Fall. Some have turned late--like OURS.  There is not much color left around Fairfield Glade.





Finally,   this last picture was taken on Friday afternoon....    We knew that frigid weather was coming  and they predicted some rain and snow....  But--guess what this was???? SLEET....   And this was only Friday... The REALLY cold weather hadn't gotten here at that time....

I'll close asking one final question:  "When is SPRING?"   ha ha ha

Hugs,

UPDATE:  Low here on Friday night was 26;  Low on Saturday night was 25; Low last night was 28... BUT--they say that warmer weather is now on the way!!!

63 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Betsy, I imagine that dining room table full of lovely roses smells heavenly! Best wishes with your hanging plants and also with the irises. I know with the cold weather, you have really enjoyed the fireplace. Hope you and George have a great Monday.

DIGITAL WORLD PAGES ARCHIVE said...

Hello!Beautiful photos!I love the roses and flowers.I have a rose with 9 inoculations on it ...Its blossoms colors are about 7.
Wonderful post!

A Brit in Tennessee said...

Brrr, at least for a couple of nights !
We're gettting warmer weather again I hear, just when the frost has killed off the morning glories,
the sun begins to shine.
Your roses are still gorgeous, I've tried saving the hanging plants, but gave up years ago.
Love the color of that Maple tree :)

Jo said...

Oh wow, Betsy, those roses are stunning. You can make them last a little longer (once they've died, that is, lol!) and put the petals in a basket for potpouri. You'll enjoy their beauty and a soft fragrance for many months during the winter. Good on George for that hard job of splitting the wood. Enjoy your roaring fires this winter. Thanks for your beautiful comments on my posts. I always love your visits. Have a blessed day. (((hugs))) Jo

Arkansas Patti said...

Your house must smell devine. I only have one rose bloom left in a vase, then it is over for me.
I replanted my hanging baskets with Pansies. I have a covered porch so each night, I unhook them and move them close to the house so I have color all winter long. They are tough little beggers.
Enjoy those fires that George is making possible. What a sweet guy.

Bookncoffee said...

Enjoyed the pictures and the winterizing entry. The roses are beautiful and the fire place sounds so cozy. Also I've never heard of iris reblooming either. We have beds of them here and they are "gone" and "to bed" for the winter. Hope you all have a great week. We are still in b/w football and basketball season and so we have been enjoying having our Katebug around us. She has been home more. See ya later!

Peggy said...

You guys have been really busy! I got my flowers brought in and the animals taken care of. Still have tons of firewood to stack and tons of leaves to rake. Love, love, love these cold mornings but like you a little heat wave is coming in for a few days.

linda m said...

Enjoyed your pictures of all your beautiful flowers. Your house must smell divine. We have been winterize here also. Very cold nights with lots of frost. Winter is coming :( Can't wait for Spring as I don't like being cold and I don't like shoveling snow :(

Beth said...

Hi, Betsy! Well, I'm feeling a bit jealous here of your table full of gorgeous roses and a blazing fire in the fireplace. :-) You are indeed blessed. I was so sad over the weekend to see my yard full of blooming zinnias, cosmos, roses, impatience, morning glories, etc wilt and turn brown. I shall miss them, but I am grateful to enjoyed their beauty for so long. I do wish I'd gathered a few blossoms to enjoy indoors as you did.

By the way, your pictures of the elk at Cataloochee were amazing. Tom and I actually went there for the first time last week, but I didn't get the shots you did. We did get to hike there for seven and a half miles (on the Boogerman and Caldwell creek trails) without seeing another soul---they were all at the field watching the elk!

Beth said...

I also love your picture of the Palmer Chapel---lovely!

Connie said...

Oh my, Betsy! All those roses--so gorgeous! I've never heard of iris re-blooming before. They bloom once in the spring here and then they are done. I hope you can make them last a bit longer.

Reanaclaire said...

Hi Betsy... you are so blessed with such a wonderful husband.. i m sure you are also as loving as he is.. traffic works in two ways.. :)

Big Dude said...

Looks like you're ready - I still have some lawn and garden work to do this week along with some wood splitting.

Tabor said...

Brrr. You just reminded me to get my amaryllis back inside soon! I have brought in the geraniums and other stuff.

Janice K said...

All your beautiful roses in your house reminded me of my mom. A little over a year ago when she was in the hospital, we asked her what she wanted for her 94th birthday. Jokingly she said, "94 roses." The day of her birthday when we brought my dad up to see her, we brought along 2 dozen roses. As the day progressed, other family members added more, and she ended up with 96 roses. She was able to come home that day, and in her room at home she was completely surrounded by roses. I guess that was kind of a "special" last earthly birthday.

amelia said...

Your house must smell like a florist shop!!
Scott did the same for us but on a much smaller scale!! We only had two vases of roses but the funny thing is, although we have had many nights below 0, the roses are not dead. We looked at them yesterday and all the foliage is green and not wilted as they should be!! Very strange!

Susie said...

Sleet already? Oh my goodness!

I love all those roses. How beautiful. I bet your home smelled wonderful.

Karin said...

Oh, oh, winter is coming your way too! We've had our frosts but some lawns are still green. These last few weeks have been just perfect - cool at night but just sweater weather throughout the day. Unbelievable.

When I worked in our Recreation Department years ago, we dried roses in a variety of ways, and I would make lovely dried flower arrangements with them. They were the rage back then!

Look forward to finding out if the iris will be spared be being wrapped in the plastic bags.

Have an awesome week!

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

All those roses make your table look like a florist shop.Enjoy that fire as you snuggle close to each other.
Blessings,Ruth

Small City Scenes said...

Well we will just have rain which does a lot a damage also. And snow in the foothills. So is frost coming early this year or is it at it's usual time?
Love the table full of roses---such color and rosy perfection.
Wrap up warm and enjoy. MB

Fred Alton said...

What a wonderful post, Betsy! I'm sure you are the only one who had that many roses brought inside at once. And all so perfectly formed. Wow! I felt a sympathy pain for George as he cuts, splits, stacks and re-stacks the wood - but it will be so cozy this winter by the fireplace. ☺

Out on the prairie said...

I have a few roses still blooming even after a few frosts. We are destined for some snow toward the end of the week. I was in shirt sleeves putting in 180 bulbs yesterday, mostly tulips.You really have a nice touch with the roses it looks like. I have a friend that hybridizes them.

floweringmama said...

Good morning!! What a wonderful way to start the week - seeing all your flowers. My favorite, though, is the iris. Anytime I see a purple iris it reminds me of my mom. She always has purple iris blooming. She lives in West Tennessee.

The temperature here has started dropping as well. We've had two hard frosts so far.

Have a great week!!
Cathy in Ky

Snap said...

Love all the roses! Wonderful to have them in the house. Too pretty. Hope the iris make it through the cold. Stay warm!

MadSnapper said...

YOWSA on the sleet, rather you than me on that one. but i would LOVE to have alll those roses or even just a few. Like your Hero photo best of all,

Jen said...

There's no stopping it, it comes for a visit every year. I just wish it's visit wasn't so long.
George sure does a good job of stacking that fire wood.

Arti said...

Those are very beautiful pics, especially that of the iris and maple trees... Loved the colors, could almost smell all the wonderful flowers!! Have a great day:)

Dorothy said...

Betsy, I'm sure you know that you are a lucky girl!! You live in a beautiful spot, you have a hubby who brings you roses and builds fires for you, and you get to enjoy snow and waterfalls! It's hard to beat all that! Enjoy!

From the Kitchen said...

A table full of roses-JOY! We said "goodnight" to our garden over the weekend too.

Best,
Bonnie

Twilight Man said...

Oh my, your roses are so big and lovely! Over here, we never see such big ones unless they are fakes & plastic made! LOL Ha ha!
I saw the greenhouse in Korea early this Winter in January where the farmers used huge layered plastic tents to cover their strawberry farms. Your idea might work too. Their brutal winter is also like -20 degrees C with heavy snow fall. Good luck and do keep us posted on their progress!

KathyA said...

Those roses are MAGNIFICENT and I'm truly envious! Again, mine did not do well this year -- I'm looking forward to next year's blooms!

We've been working around the yard, too. I re-potted the plants I brought in to avoid critters coming in with them, too! I also took some cutting of flowering geraniums and a fragrant geranium. We haven't had any white stuff, yet and hope it at least holds off until the leaves fall and we clean them up!

Harriet said...

Love all your flowers.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that you had to bring roses inside in the winter in order to have them bloom so beautifully every year! That's a job, but well worth the trouble, I would imagine!

I think you're both blesses to have each other - You two make such a wonderful couple!!!

Ginny Hartzler said...

I love all your preparation pictures and am going back and forth looking at them. LOVE the iris shot, and all the roses on your table! What will you do with the dormant ones indoors now? Do you have to water them, or do you just leave them sit there and don't tend them? We have never taken any outdoor plants inside, and I wouldn't know what to do with them if they are not growing. Remember that pretty hanging basket of petunias the school gave Phil last year? Well, we finally threw it out, I'm guessing you can't keep pansies over the winter. But I was sad to see it go.

Debbie Taillieu said...

Well the two of you have certainly been busy!

So take it easy by the nice roaring fire and get ready for spring again!

Have a fabulous day!

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Your roses are beautiful. I'll bet your house smells divine. It's fun to bring in plants for winter. I enjoy having them inside when the garden is "asleep."

Sunny said...

I don't look forward to winter like I did when I was younger. These cold, dark at 4pm days are horrible!
Your roses are amazing, it must smell heavenly in your house!
Stay warm.
☼ Sunny

Diane said...

I've really had a myth busted here on your blog. I was told once that people in the northern part of the country spend most of the year getting ready for winter. That's still true but you're supposed to be WARM all the time!!!

Love the table full of beautiful roses, mmmmmmmmmmm. Diane

Linda said...

Wow that's a lot of roses. I think I've got one plant that survives the winter and the flowers are NOT nearly as pretty as the tea roses. I've never heard of a reblooming iris. I'll have to look into it as I think they are one of my favorites.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Oh my sleet! That is crazy.
Love all the roses...I imagine the house smells wonderful.
You guys have been working hard. I do hope you can rest for a few days now.
xo
Suz

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

WE had a chilly weekendtoday it is icy rain and sleet. Winter is coming!

Your dining room must smell so beautiful full of all those pretty roses, and I'm sure all that wood will give you wonderful warm fies all winter long.

It's time to get cozy!

♥ Pat

Kay said...

We don't have harsh winters here in SoCal. In fact, they are usually really mild. We do have cold weather now and then, and it snows in the mountains, but our winters are pretty much the same as our fall and spring.

Anonymous said...

Great photos Betsy! Please try not to over work George :-)

~Ron

Neal said...

Those roses are gorgeous. George is spoiling you I see. :) When is spring??.... You're the one that likes winter..what kind of question is that? :)

Unknown said...

Good evening Betsy! I'm a new follower and fellow Tennessean but I live on the *flat* side of the state. lol
Your roses are gorgeous! I've never seen Iris' bloom this late in the year either. We've had our first frost and a few mornings we awoke to a chilling 27 degrees but I think it's took a turn for the better this wk. We have a high of 72 tomorrow.
Stop in and say howdy when you can.

Unknown said...

I am in rose heaven! Wow! I see you take your beauties in, as do we. I can't bear to lose a plant if I don't have to. The iris are gorgeous, I want to get some of those reblooming iris next year.

Your land is beautiful Betsy ... & you got snow before me, shoot!

Have a beautiful week ~
TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

Beth said...

Oh Betsy, I love roses! But you and/or Geroge must have a special touch to have that many gorgeous roses!
I hope your Irises make it. The flowers are gone here. The snowy and frosty mornings took care of the last of them. I don't have much room to bring any in---it's great that you can.
Enjoy!

Sharon said...

I can take rain
I can even take a little snow (though I don't want to)
But sleet and ice, have got to be the worst!!!

Lots of lovely roses!

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

Betsy, I can't tell you how much I love your header photo...it is just awesome!!! Everytime I come here I have to just stop and enjoy it!!!
At least I had one rose...had to pick it myself but I was still proud of it...all of those beautiful roses you have...makes me speechless...
It has been warm here today and is 51 now...

D said...

Betsy, no! no frost here yet. You keep it. ;) Amazing and beautiful rose you and George have and I was not aware of a reblooming iris. Guess I better get out more. ;) Have a wonderful week dear lady. I'm headed in to fix some dinner.

Lynda said...

My daughter had sleet one morning last week, too. She is the one on the TN/NC/GA lines - - - Copperhill, TN. I think their elevation is around 1,500 ft.
Your maple --- how gorgeous!
The roses - - - what love that represents! It reminds me of movies where the man declares his love for her by filling the room full of roses. Praise God for the pictures so you will always have the memory to view.

carolina nana said...

So sad to see all those roses cut.I moved my 1 potted blooming rose up on my front porch and it didn't get killed by our 26 degree temperatures of the last couple nights. I cleaned out my green house today so before the next cold spell I can move all my potted plants into it and hope they stay a little warmer in there.
Hope you have a blessed evening
Marilyn

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

I absolutely love your table full of roses. I can just imagine the fragrances!! You are a thankful person. As you sit by the warm fires you'll be able to dream of the upcoming spring.

nanny said...

I can't believe it is that cold already!!!
Your yard is so very pretty.....the leaves....the woodpile....the irises!!! Lots of hard work goes into having something that beautiful. I don't blame you for trying to protect it!

Catherine said...

Your home must smell heavenly with all those roses Betsy! How wonderful that George rescued all of them for you. What a good guy!

We are having a winter storm at the moment. At lease an inch of snow. It's so sad. :(

xo Catherine

Adrienne Zwart said...

Hi, Betsy!
Your pictures are wonderful. I think it's perfect that you cut the roses and brought them inside to decorate your home. I was in Dallas over the weekend and missed our snow. I'm glad. I wasn't ready to see snow just yet. :)
Hope the irises made it.

Our maple tree always turns last of all the trees in our yard. Yours is stunning!

SquirrelQueen said...

Looks like you and George are ready for the winter weather. Those roses are so pretty, your house must smell heavenly.

I don't remember ever seeing irises this late in the season, I'm curious to see if covering them will help. There is so much moisture in the stems I wonder how freezing will affect them.

Light up one of those roaring fires and stay warm.

Rose said...

back from a trip. looks like lot of work the roses are beautiful. i hope you won't have too much problem with the weather. keep warm. rose

Sarah Knight said...

Wow, that's a lot of roses! Beautiful :)

I'm a sucker for irises, so I hope they don't freeze!

Anonymous said...

I left a comment on George's blog about how heavenly your house must smell. Well, I only saw the roses then. Now that I've seen even more flowers in your house, I KNOW your house must smell beautiful!

Mary said...

wow...that table full of roses is just wonterful! I bet that room smells good! Love those iris. So beautiful!

The Retired One said...

Wow, looks like your frost is just as hard as the ones we got last week...now this week is really nice...got to almost 60 today here and sunny...but the evenings still dip down to 38 or so. I sure love those roses!

Janie said...

I'll bet your house smells delicious with all of those beautiful roses. We've had 20's at night. Winter is here, with serious snow not far behind.