What a wonderful fall we had in the garden! The abnormally warm weather gave me a chance to do things that I want to do every fall, but somehow never happens.

We have a big shed that has mostly become my garden shed — and I finally got it cleaned out. Yeah!

Thank you to a friend who was interested in my collection of many garden-related items that I needed to retire. They took two truckloads and we are thankful that is done.

I actually got pre-emergent down this fall to help control weeds as well.

A nice surprise, I still had lots of color in my garden until a few days before Thanksgiving. I bet most of your did. So, miss unpredictable Mother Nature continues to keep us on our toes.

Sure, I have many things that are really done for the year. However, I never expected to have beautiful zinnias, with big 3-inch blooms along with flame red cleomes, and P&J azalea that made November a time to remember.

I have a fabulous white iris (that one is a rebloomer) that hung in there as well. Roses and cosmos were nice, along with a few spring violets in my yard, gorgeous nasturtiums, some painted daisies and Queen Ann’s lace. The parsley, rosemary, lavender and thyme continued to show their beauty.

I am thankful that acorns were small this year. I guess acorn size depends on several things. Of course the type of oak, but environmental issues, habitat, different reproductive organs and genetics. Hmm, me thinks scientists don’t really know.

I still intend to plant some seeds yet, waiting until we have a real freeze. I planted several daffodil and hyacinth bulbs, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt.

Seed catalogues started to come in the mail. I have pledged to look once, then throw them away. I get most of the catalogs on the internet now. Same rule applies — look once — delete.

Have you gathered dried seeds yet? There are still a nice few days in December to take time to collect seeds for next year. I have gathered, completely dried and stored several varieties this year. I hope you take time to do this on a nice day. I am proud that I accomplished that. Hope I remember where I put them come next spring!

So, it’s onto other chores if you have not done them already — draining and storing hoses, and cleaning garden tools.

Time to tour your garden and do an honest review. Write down your thoughts. As you are doing this, think about what you want to do next spring, make some sketches, take some pictures. This is an important step. Trust me, you will not remember hardly any of it come springtime.

Cut down some perennials but leave some up for food for birds and wildlife.

Wishing you a happy garden wrap-up this year. It’s about time to start dreaming of what your lovely garden might look like next year.

Again, don’t forgot about collecting and storing seed. As many of our pollinator plants produce seed for us, this is our opportunity to expand those areas and share seeds with others next spring.

To learn more about collecting and storing seed, go to http://go.osu.edu/collectseed.

McKinley is a Master Gardener Volunteer for The Ohio State University Extension in Mahoning County.