Definitely Fall

 

Trees of gold and red and orange line our neighborhood streets. We have had mild weather the last two weeks and not a lot of rain, unlike this summer when we had too much rain.  Fall here is usually sunny and dry.

Yuletide Camellia

 The only thing blooming in the yard is this one Yuletide Camellia flower. An early bloom.  The three camellia bushes usually bloom near the end of November, not the first week of November.

Casa Grande Ruins

Since there is not much blooming going on in  the yard, I will share these last two photos taken on a trip to Phoenix at the end of October. This photo of the "Great House" at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument was built in the 1300's C.E. It is one of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America. The Casa Grande was no longer used around 1450 C.E.  There is a complete village built around this structure.

Arizona Canal

The Arizona Canal is one of 8 major canals in the Phoenix area.  Many of the canals running through the Phoenix area are based on the 1,000 miles of canals the Native Americans built from 500 C.E. to 1450 C.E. to irrigate 100,000 acres of land.  They grew corn, beans, squash, cotton.

Not Much Blooming

Deer Resting in My Backyard

 After two weeks of gray, cloudy weather and rain, we finally saw the sun yesterday.  The deer did not mind resting in the wet grass.  When the sun returned yesterday, so did the cool fall weather. It was 45 degrees here yesterday morning and this morning. We turned the heat on.

Salvia

My three salvia plants are still blooming, but are getting scraggily. The deer chomped on  all the liriope plants so their flowers are gone.

Russian Sage

The Russian Sage  bushes are the only other plants in bloom, but are winding down.

Deck Flowers

When the sun came out yesterday I took a photo of the mums and pansies I planted two weeks ago.  It was the first time I had seen them in the sun.  I have been watching my Yuletide Camellias that were so badly damaged in the so called "snowcrete" we had last winter.  They seem to have buds, so I think they will be okay.  We'll see how they bloom in the November-December time frame.
 

25 Years?

Twin Towers New York

 Has it been 25 years since America was attacked on September 11, 2001? It doesn't seem that long ago to me. 2,753 people died in New York as a result of the attack.

Pentagon,  Arlington, Virginia

At that time I lived near the Pentagon where three of our neighbors died.  That attack, so close to where I lived, stayed with me for a long time. 189 people died at the Pentagon.

 

Shanksville, Pennsylvania

This is a photo from the National Parks Service website of the field of impact of the fourth plane that was brought down by the passengers so that it would not destroy another building.  The park service website calls this "a common field one day, a field of honor forever."  In the far distance on the right you can barely see a speck.  That speck is a huge boulder that marks the point of impact of the plane. 40 people died at Shanksville.

A Rose for remembrance

There were special and solemn remembrances at all three memorials today marking the 25th anniversary of the attack.  Everyone that helped that day was remembered including first responders like EMTs, firefighters, doctors, nurses, ordinary citizens and our Canadian friends who allowed our planes to land there and took care of the passengers. As the petals of the rose unfold in stages, it mirrors how our memories surface little by little.

A Hint of Fall

Weeping Cherry Trees

 Although it is still August, the weeping cherry trees in the yard are always the first trees whose leaves turn color.  We have had cooler weather these past two weeks. Also, because the the strong El Nino in the Pacific, it may be the cause of so many cloudy days and downpours this month.

Russian Sage

The only plants that are doing well this summer are the Russian Sage bushes.  All the rest of the blooms on the perennials are sparse.

Marigolds

 Some of the annuals in pots on my deck are doing well like these marigolds.

Dwarf Peppers

I always put dwarf peppers in one of my deck pots.  I like their shape and brightness. 

Pink Calibrachoa

This pot of pink calibrachoa was full of blooms, but now seems to be winding down.  I have a few more pots of calibrachoa on the deck and the heavy downpours we have been having several days a week have beaten the blooms down, and as soon as they try to recover, they are hit with another downpour. 

Resting Deer 

I was out in the back yard a few days ago taking photos of the Russian Sage bushes, when I looked up and saw a resting deer watching me.  They occasionally rest in the yard, sometimes two or three of them at a time.

August Already!

Heliopsis

 

Although it's August now, you wouldn't know it by looking at my flower gardens. This heliopsis, or false sunflower, is just now coming into bloom.  In  normal year the heliopsis plants would be in full bloom by the first of July. Many plants are behind normal bloom time.

Monarda

I have three monarda, or bee balm, plants that just now come into bloom when normally they start in June.  Since it has been somewhat dry here, they have escaped having powdery mildew this year.

Japanese Anemones

These are one of the few that plants are blooming right on time this year.  I think the brutal, prolonged winter and the late freeze in spring altered a lot of the plants blooming schedules.  Also, it has been so gray here day after day with little rain in June and July which probably pushed back bloom time .

Crepe Myrtle tree

The crepe myrtle tree next to our deck is blooming away.  It lost all of it's leaves that turned brown and died after the late spring frost.  It grew all new leaves and is now blossoming undeterred.  

A Week at the Beach

Sunset on Kiawah Island

 

Every summer our family spends a week at the beach on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.  It is uncrowded  with all natural vegetation. There are no high rise hotels.  Just some homes you can rent. Here are a few photos I took of the Island.

Storm Clouds

Three afternoons while we were there, storm clouds suddenly headed for the beach.  We had to scramble to pack up and get off the beach.  It was time for a late lunch anyway.

Bocce Ball

Because there are no crowds, there are several activities that people do on the beach, like bocce ball, kite flying, volley ball, bike riding, jogging, or just walking and looking for shells.

High Tide

Everyone keeps track of the tides here for the best time to be on the beach for the activities they want to do.

Bike Path

There are several bike paths that traverse the 10 mile long island. Many people bike to get to different parts of the island they want to visit.  When my children were younger, they rode all over the island on bikes.

A Sparse May

Yellow Rose

 This is one of two miniature rose bushes brought at the grocery store a couple of years ago that I planted in the yard.  The deer don't usually come by this area, but this year right after this first bloom, they ate it and all the buds on both bushes.

Pink Astilbe

Not many pink astilbe plants made it through one of our coldest winters this year. The white astilbe plants never showed up.  We had cold weather in the 30's at night right up until the first of June.  I could not believe we  had to turn the heat on some nights the last week of May.  

Salvia

The salvia bloomed right on time in May.

Red Hot Poker

One of three Red Hot Poker plants have bloomed.  The other two don't look like they are going to bloom.  Many trees and plants are finally recovering from the late frost that turned their leaves brown. The crape myrtle tree has grown all new green leaves as well as the three sycamore trees, the camellias, the cotoneaster plants.  Although the cotoneaster plants had no flowers this spring.