A Wonderful Autumn Day

The garden may be over for the season but Autumn is still a wonderful time to be outdoors.  Yesterday was one of those days!

And that was in the shade!

A perfect day for bedding on the clothesline.

Leaves are quickly covering the ground.  Oh, and acorns too!  I think there are approximately 3 trillion of them in my yard.

Smudgie sunning.

 

Elsa (aka City Dog) enjoys nature’s bounty of acorns as toys.

The brugs are enjoying the weather – no longer panting from excessive heat.

I don’t ever recalling having to water in October!

Geraniums really seem to enjoy cooler weather.

Last year I was in a little store where they bring in their geranium flower boxes and over winter them in a window.  Even though it’s a drafty spot, they survive and actually thrive.  I may try that this year.

I hope you are enjoying good weather too.

Hot! Hot! Hot! – Fertilizer Friday

Oy-vey!  It’s been hotter than Hades in this neck of the woods.   Stifling, thick air.  Buh!

Gardening has not been a pleasant activity.   Hubby has been kind enough to water the veggie bed and I’ve been tending to the potted plants. 

I’m keeping my posts “short ‘n sweet”.    Lest I am consumed by the heat monster.  Never to be seen again.

Concord grapes

 

Hydrangeas are acting very strange.   The bloom puffs are small!

Peas have arrived.  Purty, eh?

Zucchini is “working it”!   My fingers are crossed.  Curcurbits have been having a rough time the past few years.

Blanket flower.

Brugs are doing fine!   The sticks from a few weeks ago are coming along quite well.  Despite my reservations.

Remember this?   Well we now know the color….

Tada!  Perhaps not my favorite color but love that it’s a double.

(P.S.  Walmart has the 6” pot marked down to 1/2 price right now.  Just $3 here.  So I bought 2 more today.)

Feathered friends.

Tufted Titmouse.

My little chickadees.

Alas, the silliest creature of all……

Smudgie.  Settling down to "chill" in a pot.  Kooky cat!

That’s it for this week.    But there’s much, much more over at Tootsie’s blog.   Check it out.

Catching Up on Fertilizer Friday

 For the first time ever this post actually has something to do with fertilizer!  Imagine that!

So… on May 21st I took this photo of my brugmansia.  I didn’t have high hopes for it.  The 3 that I have were mere twigs and just behind schedule IMHO.

So with the passage of a few weeks and lots of water and fertilizer…

I am hopeful!

A day or two ago I posted about my 2 newly acquired hibiscus plants.  One is pink but the other was not tagged so the color is a mystery.   

But the proverbial “cat will be out of the bag” in a couple of days.   A flower is ready to pop!

And to everyone back home…..

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

I’m linking to Tootsie’s Fertilizer Friday.  Pop on over for more garden beauties.

Roadtrips, Roomies and the Case of the Missing Blogger

I did it again!  I went missing!  I’ve been neglecting my blog but at least I’ve been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with everyone else’s. 

First I took a road trip at the end of May.   I went to Montreal to help my daughter sell off her things and pack up her apartment.  She’s moving back home for a bit so now I have a roomie!   Oh…and she brought her roomie too……

Miss Elsa is a 13 month old big, old baby.  She’s adjusting well but the other 4-legged inhabitants are not quite so sure about her.

Face-off in the catnip patch!

I posted about these a few weeks ago.  They were mere twigs and I didn’t have high hopes.  That’s the nice thing about going away.  If things manage to survive, the growth is a pleasant surprise!

Fingers are crossed!  Please no cucumber beetles this year!  Pretty please?

 

Almost done!  Unless I am graced with a second bloom!

Coming soon!

Coming along….

Where did this come from? 

And what’s with all the yellow?  I don’t even like yellow!

So that’s what’s been going on in my neck of the woods.  I haven’t been out in the garden very much because of the rain but hopefully that will change this week.  I have a few more veggies to throw in the garden and well, with rain comes weeds…..lots of ‘em!

Out & About – Week 3 & Fertilizer Friday

It’s been a very odd spring here in New England.  Unseasonably warm and periods of heavy rain seem to have sent all things with roots into high gear.  The bloom schedule is way out of whack!  

As we say good bye to these….

We say hello to….

Flowering Almond is  so pretty.  I feel like this is a bit on the early side.

Leopard’s Bane is a true work horse in the garden.  It often blooms twice in the garden.  With this early start it may go for 3!

Grapevines are budding!  I really need to get this wild thing under control.

Coming around nicely………

Foxglove

 

 Hydrangeas   

Lupines

Peony

Oriental Poppy – one of my faves!

Pulmonaria

 

Lamium & Sweet Woodruff

Catnip – is looking good!  For now!  Soon the kitties will be rolling in it with wreckless abandon like a hippy in the 60’s!  And acting just as funky!

My brugmansias arrived from Florida and were potted up yesterday.  Fingers are crossed!

Now these are the most unwelcome guests of all!  Japanese Beetles are very early and I was shocked to find them yesterday. 

 Nasty bugs doing nasty things.  It’s going to be a long summer with these guys!

Well that’s it for this week.  Can’t wait to see what’s going on in your neck of the woods.  Head on over to Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie’s blog.