Gardening, anyone?

Thank You for the pop of colors to start off the fall.

Jazzy, any sign of the pretty blue gecko?

I only saw tiny toads during the summer.

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*old fashion pinkish-lavender tall phlox*

The phlox are cherished hand-me-downs from Gram and Mom!!

Teka, We have some of the pink/lavendar tall phlox also. It smells wonderful!

Teka- I had some awesome pink phlox earlier this summer. It stopped blooming around July, but has a nice mound of green. It has done very well in my rock garden. Yours are beautiful and special to be handed down through generations too! Is your DD a gardener too?

Teka- how nice!

Jackiebird- what a beautiful bouquet.

I noticed the asters on my walk the other evening. So lovely this time of the year, blooming along with the chamisa (ah choo!) Very allergic to the later.

Put my ponds to bed for the winter. All my goldfish in the 50 gallon tank. Water lilies in the basement. Sigh.

To soon but almost had frost.

Hugs all

Jackbirdie gorgeous bouquet. Love it! cosmos are so pretty too. I should try to grow those again. I tried once at another house and they didn't do well but I forgot how pretty they are.

To the Albertans: so sorry you have fall coming already. I kind of heard this is an El Niño year which should bring a warmer winter to Chicago so maybe that's why it is still summery. It would be nice to have a mild fall and winter. I'm thinking about doing terrariums or something to give me something to do in the winter. Maybe bonsai?

Jackbirdie- Those are so pretty! My asters will not bloom until late October. For all of our northern sisters, I am sorry for the cool weather so early. It is projected to hit 100 today and tomorrow! Ouch. I am ready for some cooler weather. Love seeing all the beautiful pictures you guys post. Now, heading out to the pool!

Making the most of what's left in the garden! This year I saw no sign of the usual squash bugs, and have been harvesting 2 -3 cute little patty pan squash daily for the last 2 weeks. I also used the blossoms, stuffing them with goat cheese and sauteeing in a little olive oil. I've eaten my fill of the grapes and have given some to everyone I can think of, so I am dehydrating the rest to make homemade raisins!

Jackbirdie and Jazzy, I love those glorious late summer bouquets you posted. Cosmos and purple asters are some of my favorites. Great looking veggies from your grower, Jazzy.

Beautiful vegetables, grapes and cosmos! I saw a pretty butterfly today and it sat for a photo.

My garden is still churning out heaps of tomatoes - Have been making lots of sauce to put in the freezer. Great year for sweet and hot peppers, the plants are still loaded. We've been slowly harvesting potatoes and carrots as we need them.

Since everyone posted photos of their sedums a while back I figured I'd add mine to the bunch (the bees love it!):

Two hobbies. . .great pix. Is that milkweed? I need to plant some to bring the monarchs back to our yard.

Scottie

I'm supporting the bees too. All of a sudden they are in, over, and everywhere around my hummingbird feeders. Not pleased. I know they are endangered and this is a temporal condition, or so my research says. And beneficial to the garden. I hope they go bother someone else so my hummers can come back. Some always stay through the winter here. I have never known the bees to,though. I live in moderate coastal Oregon where we have no frost. Anyone have any input?

My gardens were abundant with bees, but now as things are cooling down, I don't see as many around. Hummers seem to be mostly gone too, although I still see a few around and feeders still up.

Moni thanks- my garden is organic, and I would never do anything to hurt the bees. Perhaps I can put some flat dishes of syrup out in easy access areas and hummer feeders in shadier, less obvious areas. I had hummers through the winter last year. I just love them. But I know the bees need a hand.

What kind of syrup? Something like corn syrup? I read on line somewhere you could offer bees something with much higher sugar concentration away from the feeders and reduce the ratio of sugar in the hummer feeders. Does that make sense? Homegrown honey. Yum.