High waters in the back yard

We had rain starting around midnight last night that continued on and off through this afternoon. Apparently part of the neighbors' landscaping is causing water to pour as if from a faucet under the fence and into our yard, and it wasn't all draining away. I took this video to help understand the problem even when it's not raining.

Seeds for spring

I just ordered a ton of seeds! If I can plant some of each, I'll be satisfied. Planting them all would be impossible! No doubt I will curse myself for it later.

LAVENDER VERA

$ 1.50

STRAWFLOWER - DWARF MIX HELICHRYSUM

$ 1.50

POPPY - CORAL REEF

$ 1.50

MINI BELLE BLEND PEPPER

$ 1.95

EARLY JALAPENO HOT PEPPER (HEIRLOOM, 66 DAYS)

$ 1.50

FORGET-ME-NOT

$ 1.50

FLAT LEAF PARSLEY

$ 1.50

ROSEMARY

$ 2.25

COMMON THYME

$ 1.50

Portulaca - Double Mixed

$ 1.25

ITALIANO CLASSICO BASIL

$ 1.50

BASILICO FINISSIMO VERDE A PALLA

$ 1.35

ALYSSUM - ROYAL CARPET

$ 1.25

Red-bellied woodpecker

Just had a red-bellied woodpecker right outside the solarium. Alas, I was not quick enough to get a picture, but there's no doubt about the species. Very pretty.

And speaking of pretty - I stumbled on this on the web:

Unrelated to pretty whatsoever, we had our gutters cleaned today, with no problems, by Reliant. The gutter guy, Jim, suggested that since we have some gutters that drain underground and go to the street, we might want to get some expensive gutter covers for those gutters.

Goodbye, leaves. Hello, fellow gardeners.

Today I hauled the last of the leaves* off to the dump. It felt very, very good. I was going to stir my compost but it was frozen. I also covered up the table and chairs, and removed the hose in front (the hose in back was already stored). So winter may come now.

It's not a crazy thing to say, because though it is Jan. 7, we've had just a few days of genuine cold so far. Barely even a frost before that!

On Monday, I went to a meeting of the Maplewood Garden Club (http://www.maplewoodgardenclub.org). Everyone was very nice, and there were dozens of them - mostly female and older. They were also kind of adorable - they raffle off books and other things that people want to give away, and they actually judge plants and flower arrangements at the meeting. I was kind of mystified by that. They do this every month! 

They had a speaker who was a landscape architect, and his presentation was very good - I was sort of riveted and with each design he presented, I re-did my own property in my head. Many good ideas.

One good tip I took away: it's okay to start a bed with mulch, but you want to be aiming over time to fill in with plants, not mulch.