Happy Fall!

The week of the 15th has not been like fall, with high temps and high humidity (dew points in the upper 60s and sometimes 70). I know it's humid when our dryer has a puddle of condensation because the humid air comes in the vent and hits the cool machine. The headlines said "unseasonably warm," but I say downright uncomfortable. However, I shouldn't complain. It could be snowing.  This photo is a bouquet made from a native viburnum branch, which had been laying on the ground, damaged for an unknown reason. The red leaves and berries are beautiful. P.S. Below is my last watermelon for this season. The small melon developed later than the others but was fully ripe and delicious. The steak knife is for scale. 

September Garden Tour

September has both delights and dents. Not everything looks good since the growing season is winding down. And the spell of low temperatures in the 30s didn't help. But it's not the end until we get a freeze, so here's a look at what's happening. Above is a monarch caterpillar on butterfly weed in the front yard. Below is a pot with lemon grass, purple basil, and strawberry mint. I wonder, why place a spike plant in a pot when you can harvest the lemon grass for cooking?

This is a closeup of black lace elderberry. It look dead after the winter, so I cut it back...

...and it grew big and full! It didn't flower (normally it flowers on old wood), but that's okay. Someday I hope it will hide the fire hydrant and the electric box.

The rose hips (above) are brilliant on the smooth rose. This plant (below) has come into its own after struggling for a bit. My one concern is that it sends out shoots, and I cut them back. This kind isn't supposed to take over in dry soil, but we did have a wet year. If I need to take it out, I will, but I'll leave it for now. 

The pots in front are feeling their age (I sympathize!), but I'll keep watering them.

This sedum (planted by previous owners and moved around by me) looks best this time of year.

Here's an overview of one of two front native gardens, looking a little scraggly. Do I want to cut it all down? Yes. Will I? No, because the seed heads are for the birds. 

Below are marigolds from seed that are finally blooming. They took a long time, perhaps because that spot got more shade this year from tree branches.

I hope that the service berry shrubs will grow to provide shade for the bench.

I see the deck as an opportunity. Lots and lots of pots! 

And the south-facing side is a great place for cosmos and painted lady runner beans.

The rose has been healthiest this year.

Gotta love zinnias! So do the bees, butterflies, and birds. 

Overview of the vegetable garden.

The honeysuckle bushes were supposed to be 3 feet by 3 feet, but they love their lives and have expanded, especially since the Siberian elms are gone. I think the shallow rooted elms were greedy for water.

Berries on the native viburnum

The bright pink zinnias are my attempt to save the seed. I know I said I gave up, but I can't. This is the perfect zinnia, in my opinion. We got a warm week ahead so hopefully the seed will ripen. 

A dragonfly on the Bloomerang lilac, which appears to be disease resistant

September is a great time for eating from the garden. Last night we had watermelon, and I had to purposefully set aside some for the tonight. 

Glossy and gorgeous!

Carrots for dinner tonight

This sauce is olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and basil. I added a little pepper and mozzarella. Delicious! I've got containers in the freezer for future meals. 

August Garden Tour

August is prime time in the garden, overflowing with life. Yet the downturn is beginning, with plants setting seed or succumbing to disease or pests. However, I like to walk around and observe with so much to see. Above is another attempt to save seed of the bright pink zinnia that I love. 

In the front yard, the chokeberries are ripening. 

The bees are loving the anise hyssop. There has been some asters disease on the coneflowers, which I'm trying to control by removal of affected parts. 

The butterfly weed has blossomed and it going to seed, but the black-eyed Susans are thriving. And the coreopsis keeps blossoming, a hardworking plant!

This year's front shade pots are a combination of torenia, pink impatiens, purple impatiens, and pink begonias. 

In the back yard, the monarch butterfly like the Joe Pye weed. The viburnum are getting big enough to block the view of the neighbor's house and shed. 

These cosmos are near the deck.

The Bloomerang lilac lives up to its name. 

This watermelon is so close to ready!

The yellow pear tomatoes are good producers. This year, my tomatoes are dying from the bottom up, classic tomato diseases. I didn't buy disease resistant tomatoes, choosing instead plants from the local pop up. I had good luck with some plants, though not the peppers and tomatoes.

This is a lemon cucumber. I love that they're small, perfect for one person. They've been sweet and crispy. So delicious on hot days!

This is the first bloom of a Blueberries and Cream dahlia. 

The variegated thyme is crowding out the rosemary in this pot. 

And the lemon grass is crowding out the mint and purple basil. I kept the mint trimmed because I feared it would take over. I'm still learning, even after years of gardening.

This swallowtail caterpillar is why I let the dill grow wild! 

I broke down and bought a "brand name" hibiscus, Hot Shot in the Hollywood series. I'm loving it because it blooms constantly. It takes a lot of water. 

Here's a look at the back of the house, and you can see the Limelight hydrangea, the dying tomatoes, the dill everywhere, the rain barrel, the bubblegum petunias, and the desperate need for weeding in fenced garden. I'm okay with waiting for cooler temperatures, maybe September. 

Green beans...when to pick them?

The beans are ready to pick! I've found that my yellow beans matured more quickly than the green and purple (most likely due to the variety, not color).

The question is when do I pick my green beans? The photo above shows new beans needing some growth.

The purple beans above could be picked or I could wait. The photo below shows a better comparison. 

The green and purple are small but edible. I'll call them "baby beans," and they're tender, but then I'm not getting the bulk I might need for a meal. The tiny ones don't freeze well. I like to pick beans before the seeds inside start to develop. The one on the far right has the beginnings of seeds. Many people pick the beans when they're thick and fat, with clearly developed seeds inside. That's okay, too. When I lose track of beans and they get that big, I cook them a little differently, chopping them into bite-sized pieces and cooking them longer to tenderize them. When I pick them small, I'll eat them raw or lightly cook them, under a minute in the microwave. No matter when you pick them, they're delicious!

July Front Yard

Happy Fourth of July! Daisies are not officially a native plant, but they're in my native plant garden because the bees love them.

The butterfly weed and coreopsis are blooming. Below is a close up of the butterfly weed. The photo doesn't do justice to the color's bright cheeriness.

Here's an overview of the area. There's some creeping thyme in the lawn. Please ignore the weeds. Or embrace them. 

There is a begonia in each shady front pot, transplanted from my winter windowsill. They were nibbled by rabbits and recovered, though they're small right now. The impatiens were not doing so well, so I added torenia plants. Now they look fuller.