An End-of Fall Perennial Garden

Another year, another perennial garden season comes to a close.  We've had several killing frosts by now, so all the flowers except for a few mums have died.  Thanks to a very warm October, I feel I finally got caught up on my garden chores.  Almost everything has been cut back now except for a half of one large bed, the fence line, and a little bit up by the house.  I know that must still sound like a lot to you, but it's really not.  I never get everything cut back in the fall because there is never enough time before the snow flies, so something is always left for spring.  And that's ok, by March or April if it's a warm day and the snow has melted, I'm anxious to get outside and do something. 

This is the time of year when I'm really grateful I have bushes in my yard.  They provide so much color with their foliage and berries.

This is the same bush as the one pictured above, but seen farther away.  

View looking west with my back to my own house looking at my neighbors house.  The yard has been raked now, the leaves were mulched and bagged ready to be put on next year's vegetable garden.

View of the western hosta garden looking up at meh house and enclosed vegetable garden.

I thought the trees in my yard had a lot of color this year.  They were more colorful in person than in the photos.  That is an Autumn Blaze maple behind a Burning Bush.

This is the first year my Burning Bush provided so much color.  Hubby moved it to a sunnier location because it was in the way of his landscaping project.  Wow! What a difference it made.  I didn't even think it would survive the move, but it thrived!

Yellow Maples behind the pine tree.

I leave the dried Hydrangea blooms on the stems until spring.  They provide so much winter interest in the garden.

Another view of the Autumn Blaze Maple,

This is a wild Black Eyed Susan that loves to reseed in my yard.  Sometimes I pull it out, because it can spread fast like a weed.  And sometimes I just leave it, because it is so pretty.  This year, it produced abundantly and looked so beautiful.  However, next year I may regret not pulling it out.  😆

The most disappointing part of this summer was we never finished our landscaping project.  We try and do one landscaping project a year, but this one is just taking a lot longer than expected.  Oh well, it took me five years to finish the western Hosta hill, this one might take as long too, but it'll be beautiful when we're done.  

It was a hill of wood retaining walls.  They were twenty five years old and just started to rot away.  The steps were also wood and were unsafe to walk on anymore.  So hubby has been pulling out the old retaining walls and building new ones.  The new ones will be covered in steel.  He also put in stone steps and is created walking paths between the walls so I will have more raised gardens to work in.  That is important as I'm not getting any younger. 

 And that is the very last garden post of the season!  

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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A Return to Galena Illinois

This fall we headed south to visit our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren to spend their fall break with them.  Their break didn't start until Wednesday, so we stopped at a few places along the way on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Our first stop was the La Crosse Marsh on Sunday.  Then on Monday we went to Galena, Illinois.  This was our second visit to Galena.  The first time we went was back in 2017.  We didn't get to see and do everything we wanted, so we thought it was time for a return trip.  I don't want this post to be a repeat of my last two Galena posts, so if you want more in-depth information on Galena check out "Our Visit to Galena, Illinois:  Part One", and "Our Visit to Galena, Illinois:  Part Two".

In my previous Galena posts I mentioned how expensive everything was and how they charge for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.  I'm surprised they don't charge you for using a public restroom like they do in Europe. 😆 Well, with inflation, it's gotten worse.  When I re-read my old posts I saw how much prices went up since 2017.  A trolley ride in 2017 was $18, now it's $22.  The museum was $10, now it's $15.  Also, combo tickets for the trolley/Belevedere Mansion/Dowling House aren't available as a three some anymore because the trolley business was sold to a new company.

I really wanted to do the trolley ride more than anything and after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor, it seemed the best thing to do.  Everyone recommended getting on the first trolley of the day so we would know what we wanted to go back to and see more of later in the day.  We rose super early as usual and we were there before the town was even awake.  Because nothing was open but coffee shops we got prime, free parking next to the park (all other parking in Galena you have to pay for) and then decided to cross the bridge and explore the park.  We didn't get to spend any time in the park on our last visit, and this visit was all about seeing and doing things we missed on our first visit to Galena.

Grant park sits high on a hill with a beautiful view of downtown Galena.

It was so peaceful and quiet in the morning;  nothing but joggers and dog walkers.

The park is named after one of the city's most famous residents Ulysses S. Grant.  You can read all about the history of the park below.

Lots of memorials and statues in this park.  I loved these black urns filled with fall mums.

There is a fountain in the park.

And a gazebo.

And here is the statue of Grant the park was created to display.  

I love how the statue is positioned so he overlooks the city.

A memorial to those who served in the Civil War, and there are also three different canons in this park (not pictured).

After strolling through the park, it was time for our trolley tour!  The trolley takes you on a one hour narrated tour through the Galena Historic district.  You learn all about the history of Galena and see the homes and sites it is most famous for.

Did you know 85% of Galena, and over 800 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places?  That's incredible.

As we went through the neighborhoods, our trolley guide pointed out the most significant homes, their origins, and who lived there.  It was fascinating to hear, but I wish I also received a written guide because now I look at these photos and I can't remember most of them.  So you will just have to enjoy the beautiful  19th century architecture for most of them.

Above and below is the old public school house which now has been converted to condominiums.

These next two photos show the beautiful building the EXPENSIVE museum is held in.  My word, $15.00 admission to get into this little museum.  I could go to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for around that price and spend the whole day there.  I wonder how many people like me are turned off by that price, and if they would get more visitors if they reduced it to $5-8 per person.  

We were surprised to see so many homes for sale in Galena, it made us wonder if their economy was not doing well.  We were also surprised to find out they were not as expensive as you would think they would be.  Our tour guide told us the average home price in Galena was $294,000, which isn't any different in my neck of the woods.

This cute log cabin was located right beneath Uylsses S. Grant home.  It was built in 1851 in Elizabeth, Ill. and moved to Galena Illinois.

This is the famous Ulysses S. Grant home.  We were so disappointed that it was closed when we were visiting Galena.  It's open Wednesday through Sundays and it only asks for a $5.00 donation per person.  So the most reasonably priced attraction, and the attraction I most wanted to visit, wasn't even open. 😢😡

Photo Credit

Nearby the Ulysses S. Grant home is this mansion which is now used as office spaces.

On the trolley tour the guide pointed out the most interesting looking homes and some quirky facts about them.  The gazebo in this yard for example used iron doors from old elevators from New York City.

This Victorian home is beautiful, but kinda spooky too,  I almost expect Morticia Adams to walk out the front door. 😂

I really loved riding through the neighbors and seeing all the beautiful houses.  I loved the smaller, more insignificant ones too, like the one pictured below.  Isn't it cute?

This grand home is located right across the street from Grant park.

Ok, our guide didn't point it out, but we sure noticed it.  This was the one and only Trump/Vance sign in town.  All the other homes/businesses had Harris/Walz signs.  We thought these homeowners were very brave to be the only Trump supporters in this very liberal town.

This is the Belvedere Mansion which is open for tours.  We were going to tour it but it didn't get great reviews on Trip Advisor so we decided to skip it and perhaps save it for another time.

And this is the Dowling House, Galena's oldest home.  

Galena's Post Office.

After our tour was over, the Galena shops were open, so we decided to start walking and shopping and then get some lunch.  After reading restaurant reviews on Trip Advisor, we decided to go to Durty Gurts for lunch.  Oh my goodness! This place lived up to its reviews.  We split a "Blue Moon Burger" and chocolate milk shake.  Both were absolutely incredible!  I can't believe I didn't take any photos, but you can check out their website.  There are plenty of food photos and pictures of the establishment there.  We really like  the atmosphere of the place too.  

Our trolley guide told us that we could go into Galena's oldest hotel to see old photos of Galena and read about its history.   That is one thing I would not have done had I not heard about it on the trolley ride;  and it's FREE too!

The hotel has so much history!  They have a movie that plays non-stop that you can watch.  We did stop and enjoy the movie.  It was nice to rest our feet a while too.  I think I enjoyed the movie more than my husband did, who used the time to take an afternoon nap,  😏

The lobby is just gorgeous.  There is a restaurant open to the public that you can enjoy too.

Usually my husband is the one who likes his photos taken next to statues, but I was the one who got to sit next to Uyllses S. Grant on this trip.

The last time we were in Galena it was so busy because everyone was there for the Halloween parade.  This time, the streets were very quiet.  

I'm not into Halloween or Halloween decor, but I did find this skeleton display very interesting and so well done!

I love how this white building stands out from the rest.

After walking all day, it was time to hit the road again for our next leg of the journey:  Springfield Illinois!  That was a pleasant surprise!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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