The Perennial/Herb Garden in October

What a beautiful warm weekend we had - I did  a lot outside and in, but there is still so much that needs to be done! I spent most of one whole morning straightening up the Perennial/Herb garden.

While it looks nice in the photograph, the truth was the plants were all growing across the path and most of the flowering plants were spent or half dead.
I weeded and weeded and weeded some more. Fortunately they were mostly shallow rooted weeds. Then I cut back the sage in the herb garden and tied them into an aromatic bundle to dry inside. I then weeded all the strawberry plants that had spilled out of their beds and were taking over one corner of the garden. Who knew strawberries were so invasive!!! I thought the squash plants were dead, so I began pulling them up and cutting them back and I found two white scallop squashes hiding in the seemingly dead foliage. I planted the white scallop squash in the Potager. It went everywhere!
I pulled out mostly dead zinnias and cosmos, cutting the nicest flowers off and sticking them in an old can. I wished I read Gina's tips for saving flower seeds before I did all that ( click here to read : Home Joys) but I think I may still have some that can be harvested next weekend.

I pulled up the sweet potato vine that had spilled into my herb bed and was rewarded with a bunch of tiny sweet potatoes! These were later wrapped in foil and grilled with our steak for dinner and they were delicious! I'm looking forward to harvesting the ones in the actual bed - they should be much bigger!
In the space freed up by the missing flowers, I transplanted a peony that had never done well in the side yard. I'm hoping it will find the Perennial Bed in the garden more to it's liking.

I'm keeping the cage on it to remind myself that it's there in the spring. I also put in a bunch of daffodil bulbs to brighten the pathway next spring.
Earlier in the summer, I had taken some seeds out of the hollyhocks in the side yard and scattered them in the perennial bed and I was happy to see baby hollyhocks.

I hope they come back next year and bloom for me! I think hollyhocks are just beautiful.

By the end of the morning, the Perennial/Herb garden was looking much better.
I'm linking this to Tuesday Garden Party at www.anoregoncottage.com