The growing season is over. We haven’t had a hard freeze yet, but most of my annuals and perennials decided it was time to quit for the year after a killing frost occurred last Friday night.
I cleaned out my flowerbeds over the weekend, but I left some annuals (mostly marigolds and zinnias) in one bed because goldfinches, juncos and White-throated Sparrows were eating seeds from the dead flower heads or pecking at them on the ground. Why take away a free food source for the birds?
I was already asleep, but apparently on Sunday night into the wee hours of Monday morning it snowed twice and just enough both times to add up to a trace of snow. That broke snow records for both October 14 and 15 for Madison.
Our fall leaves haven’t even peaked yet, so I hope it was just winter playing a little joke on us.