"for cryin' out loud"

Due to lousy weather and having to work these past few days, I have not been poking around my garden. Imagine my surprise, today, when I found these plants still blooming.

Will they be the last?

A small posy of flowers still 'hanging in there' from my garden. I just know the first frost of the season will be here any time soon, and kill off the few flowers still blooming. So why not pick them and enjoy them.

Jack Frost hasn't been here yet

Some places in the garden are looking very forlorn and bedraggled, while in other areas there is still color.

The volunteer Nicotiana is still flourishing.

And there are still blooms on several of the geraniums. This weekend I must pull these plants to make them ready for over wintering.

I am still able to pick small bunches of sweet peas.

I suppose I should make the effort to pick the last of the tomatoes and make chutney. Perhaps this weekend I will feel like getting the job done as I really hate to see these beauties go to waste.

Two of the largest gourds are going to remain where they are until spring.

Scarlet runner beans drying on the vines for seed to be planted next growing season.

Don't you just love the hardy Nasturtiums? They just keep on producing pretty flowers.

Plants need friends too

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Wet Wordless Wednesday

It's creeping up

The mornings are crisp, but not breath stealing cold yet. Trees, and plants are glowing in their fall colors making for beautiful landscapes all along the roads I drive to work.

Holly, and other assorted berry bearing trees and shrubs, have and still are changing into their winter colors. I love to pick and decorate our home with holly during the holiday season.

Yesterday, I spent time in the veggie garden, digging in compost and manure, pulling a few weeds and some of the straggly vegetables, which I knew would not produce much now. The rabbits sure enjoyed the castoff veggies as they were tossed over the fence. No wonder I have semi-tame rabbits hanging around the vegetable garden. *grin*
I have almost finished my fall cleanup of the gardens before the first frost creeps up. I feel one coming on any time now. The thermometer read 37 degrees this morning.

Cuttings for next Spring

The makeshift mini green house provides humidity for about 36 cutting of various plants from the garden. The mini greenhouse is downstairs in our daylight basement, which stays at just the right temperature, and provides plenty of bright light for producing nice healthy plants.

There are, coleus, fuchsia, hibiscus, geraniums, a ground cover, lilac, forsythia, and a few others I can't remember right now.
When taking cuttings, I always dip the ends in rooting hormone before planting them. I seem to have a greater success rate of the cuttings taking using this method. Once the cuttings are growing and are starting to fill the pots, they are then transplanted to the next larger size pot.

Harvest Monday

I almost missed Harvest Monday, oh!well better late than never.

This afternoon I dug up the Russian Fingerling potatoes. They look more like arthritic fingers and one crooked elbow *chuckle* But they sure did taste good, roasted with a few onions, beets and carrots all from the garden.
I did have some green beans sitting on the stove in a saucepan, all ready to cook, but was distracted when a friend stopped by and the roasted veggies were done before I realized I had not cooked the beans. No worries, we will eat them tomorrow.

Go on over to Daphne's Dandelions and check out her harvest, and while you are there you can link to other folk's harvests.

Little works of art

Mother nature blessed us with rainbow colors throughout the summer months, and has left us with lovely little pieces of garden art for the fall.






"October is nature's funeral month. Nature glories in death more than in life. The month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming - October than May. Every green thing loves to die in bright colors."
- Henry Ward Beecher

Planning for Spring 2010

Sunday I came across a 'Barn Sale' where many wonderful things were for sale. The person having the sale, used to have a gift shop and was wanting to sell off all the merchandise.

The prices were such, that I could afford to pretty much buy all I wanted. The nice lady said she has more stuff, and will be having another sale. She has my telephone number to give me a call, so I can go and see what other treasures I may find * chuckle*





I bought, pots, outdoor carpets, yard art and other
miscellaneous 'stuff'
The outdoor carpet you see on the right, will be on our patio along with the brown pots filled with a selection of plants.

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A bargain were two pieces of solar yard art, and a whole bunch
of little metal birds.

The birds are copper, brown with white speckles, and a pretty eggshell blue. I have ten of these to place around the garden.
They were originally $8.50 and I bought them for 50 cents each. Who could resist?

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I fell in love with the copper weather vane and added it to the pile of goodies I was putting aside to purchase.


The wind chimes weren't new like all the other things, but it has a beautiful melodious sound and I just had to have it too.

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The pretty pink plaque, I bought for my daughter, and the blue and yellow outdoor carpet, will be for in front of the steps of our RV.





My car was full by the time I got done buying, Oh! what fun I had, and now, during the cold winter months ahead, I can decide where to place the pieces of decorative art, and plan what new plants I will add to the landscape.
I do bring a lot of my smaller Yard art pieces inside, during the winter months. I know it is a lot of work, but I want them to last for many years.

Vegetable garden cleanup -

is well on the way to being finished. All the new growth, and many of the leaves, have been trimmed from the tomatoes, so they can soak up the last of the sun before our weather changes.






The corn stalks have been pulled from this bed, manure/compost added, ready to receive the strawberry plants.








On September 3rd, I posted about pinning runners from my older strawberries, onto the tops of small pots ready for my new strawberry bed. As you can see from the picture, the plants have established themselves in the pots with a very healthy root system, in just over three weeks.






As I was working on the cleanup, I got a whiff of a delectable fragrance. "where is that coming from" I asked myself as I turned surveying the garden. As far as I knew there wasn't anything in bloom that close, and I did not recognize the fragrance. I looked down and saw the pot of wildflowers sitting in a corner of the veggie garden. "No , it can't be those little flowers" but on going on over and leaning down to smell, I was very surprised to discover the source of the fragrance. I have no idea what these flowers are, they are from a packet of wildflower mix the local bank was giving out to their customers. I think I would like to sow more of these delightful flowers around the property.




All the new strawberry plants are in their new home and we will be eager to harvest their fruit next season. The berries will produce more, and larger fruit the following year.








The gourds I planted on the outside of the fence, without adding any compost/manure to the soil have produced a couple of small gourds. Next season, I will plant some seed behind the strawberry plants and they should do better with all the goodness in the soil.
These are fun to watch develop and I look forward to having many more to play with, perhaps to make bird houses.




Here is a basket of goodness. A few veggies I am still finding to harvest. They may be small, but they are still tasty.

Autumn is here

Our days have been so warm that I fear I have a false sense of security. I must get out and pick the tomatoes and beans today, and start on tidying up the garden and prepping it for an early start in Spring.

The Scarlet Runner beans are still blooming and producing plenty of beans for our evening meals. I have left a few of the beans on the vines so I will have some for planting in the Spring.

There are about a dozen late bearing Blueberries still on the plant, but I will be enjoying those as I go about doing the garden chores today.

I haven't been able to eat the 'Sugarsun' cherry tomatoes as fast as they ripen, and that is also with giving bags of them to friends. This is one tomato I will be growing next year. The black Russian I will not bother with, as I found it to be tasteless and kind of mushy.

A Beefsteak which ended up on a sandwich. Oh! how I will miss my tasty tomato sandwiches
during the long winter months.
Our weather here on Whidbey Island is supposed to be nice until I think the weather man said Sunday, when it will be blustery with some showers, so I had better get outside and start on the cleanup.

What am I ?

I am a Toad lily, and have found a suitable place to put down roots in Keewee's Garden, where I am quite happy to grow, and show of my unusual blooms.

I am a Caterpillar, but what will I be when I grow up?

This big guy, probably around two inches long, was making his way across a path I was coming and going on, as I worked on my garden. It was his bright lime green color which caught my eye and stopped me from stepping on him. I have not seen a caterpillar like this before, so am asking you, my readers, if you know what species it is.