Fall

10/26/14

Fall color on trees in my back yard

     We have moderate color on the trees in the area now, and soon we will be at peak color.  I have noticed leaves accumulating on the ground for at least a week.  Soon the yard will be blanketed with them.  The following photos show what little growth is going on in my gardens.

The last rose is blooming on the very old rose bush in the back yard garden.

I purchased a pot of mums from the grocery for table decor for a party, and then planted them in the back yard garden.

The Carolina jasmine vine that was severely damaged by the snow and cold last winter has rebounded and attained a lot of growth up the fence and arbor.  But it produced no flowers this year.

There are various mushrooms growing in the lawn, but I haven't seen any in my gardens this year.

We have been seeing lots of deer feeding in the woods behind the house.

Pumpkins on the front porch

     I dread losing daylight savings time next weekend.  To me that signals that winter is coming fast.  I will savor the warmth of the afternoon sun as I walk the dog for the last few weeks until winter descends.  Happy Halloween.

Slowing Down

10/9/14

goldenrod Fireworks

     It is definitely fall here, with temps in the high 30's two nights last week.  We had to turn the heat on.  By next week, I'll get out the winter blankets.  But fall is generally nice here in northern Virginia with warm, sunny days.  The leaves are just starting to turn on the trees.  I did some cleaning out of my side garden.  I took out all the fading zinnias that were only supposed to get two feet tall, but ended up being four feet tall.  Now the goldenrod fireworks bush is finally visible.  There are still a few late blooms in the side garden.  Here are a few photos of what is still blooming.

The side garden is looking kind of bare with the zinnias gone, but you can see the goldenrod bush now.

 

 

 

The marigolds are doing well.

There is one late bloom among the stand of black-eyed Susans.

A few short blooms are still appearing on the buddleia bush.

After pruning all the dead branches on the midnight salvia, it produced a few flower stalks.

In an out-of-the-way dark corner in the back yard a lonely hosta just flowered.  I rarely go back to this corner.  I planted this hosta in this bare space in the spring and promptly forgot about it.

The grass is full of black walnut fruit that has fallen from the black walnut tree in the back yard.

In the garden surrounding the electric box the milkweed pods have opened.

Some of the seeds from the milkweed pods have been blown into the scotch broom bush nearby.

The deer are intensely foraging now and have eaten some stems off my jumbo begonias that line the front of the house.  They never bother them until October.

     Fall is nice here, and it can be warm until mid-November.  The one thing I really miss is the birdsong of summer.  I don't know a lot about birds, but yesterday when I was walking the dog, we passed a tree where a bird was trilling away for the longest time.  It was the first time I hear extended birdsong since August.  It made my day.  I decided I was going to put a clear bird feeder up against my kitchen window, so I could see birds close up this winter, and hopefully learn a lot more about them.