Fall Happenings

9/27/15

back yard garden

     The leaves on the trees are just starting to turn here.  We have twelve hours of daylight now, and night temps are in the low 50's.  The back yard garden is so lush and full now with the fall plants flowering.  I know in six weeks it will all be gone.  Here are photos of  what is blooming in the back yard garden.

Japanese anemones

hardy begonias

raspberry lemonade zinnias

vinca

I bought some pansies to put in bare spots now that we have cooler weather.

I replaced some tired plants in my deck railing pot with ornamental peppers.

I also added pansies in another deck railing pot.

In the side yard garden, the goldenrod fireworks bush is in full bloom.

The bees were all over the goldenrod bush.

Out in the back yard the black walnut tree has been dropping its walnuts encased in green balls for about a month now.

The squirrels have been busy cracking the walnuts open revealing their black interior.

Most of the follicles on the milkweed plants have split open.

The wind has been carrying the seeds with their white, silky filament hairs all over the yard, making the yard look like it has cotton balls spread all over it.

The only thing I have seen on the plants are milkweed beetles.  There was not a single monarch caterpillar on these plants, their most preferred food.

     We will be moving in about a month to a smaller house and yard on the other end of town.  We have been looking for something smaller several months, and it is such a coincidence that our old house which we built and lived in for years came on the market.  We quickly bought it.  The yard and gardens have not been kept in good shape, so I have my work cut out for me.  It is always exciting putting in new gardens!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

10/13/13
              

     It has been gray and rainy here for several days.  Each day we have had rain, drizzle, rain, and more rain.  We have had 7 inches of rain in six days.  The ground is like a wet sponge.  I'm really craving sunshine.  The weatherman says we will see the sun sometime tomorrow.  This photo shows the back yard garden with the cosmos beaten down by the rain.  When it stops raining, I will get out and stake them.

 
    
     A sign of autumn here is the falling nuts from our black walnut tree (Juglans nigra).  Commercially, the wood of the tree is used to make furniture and flooring.  And the walnuts are used in cookies, cakes and other bakery goods, and ice cream.

    
     This is a photo of the green hulls that have the walnuts inside.  You have to be careful around the tree now, as you have a good chance of being hit with the falling nuts.

    
     Here half the green hull is torn away, and you can see the shell of the nut inside.  It is extremely hard to remove the hull and crack the shell of the nut.  Some suggestions I've read say to run over the walnuts with a car,  stomp the nuts underfoot, or pound them with a hammer.

     The squirrels have been busy gathering and burying these nuts.  I found holes being dug in my deck pots and the walnuts being deposited there.  To keep the squirrels out of my pots and the dirt they dig up off my deck, I covered the soil in the pots with pea gravel.  The squirrels don't like to dig in the pea gravel, and so will leave my pots alone.

       The jumbo begonias along the front walk seem to like the cool, wet weather.  I've had enough of it.  I hope we see the sun tomorrow.