Butterfly Weed

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. The rich colours of grass and earth were intensified by the mellow light of a sun almost warm enough for spring... ~P.D. James, A Taste for Death

Remember to click
on picture to see
larger.

Last year's butterfly weed

This year's butterfly weed

 We were gone from home for about 2 weeks, leaving plants unattended.  I fretted over this years butterfly weed the whole time.  It had lost all its leaves earlier in the year and with temperatures in the 90's and no rain the whole 2 weeks, I was concerned it would die.

Surprisingly, it is a beautiful plant and getting ready to bloom.
The flowers on this plant are all yellow.  Last year's plant is multi colored orange and yellow.

This is a good sign that it will make it through the winter.
This winter is forecast to be dry and not too cold.

Not good for wintering plants.

I have to comment again on the practicality of the black
pound in edging from Gardeners Supply catalog.  I have done this several times with this
edging. Making a sort of "pot" to hold water. Once it looks
settled, I will remove the edging.

I have another "pot" with a plant that I set out before we
left for our trip.  I forgot all about it.  Then, on closer
inspection, I remembered planting "something".
I watered it thoroughly and will watch for more leaves.
If we have a mild winter, I may actually figure out what
it is.

One last remark about the edging.  This picture
is of the only piece of edging to break. It still
comes in handy.

 

 I love garden surprises!  This is the Hyacinth Bean Vine.  I had attempted to grow this vine over my
metal arbor.  It never bloomed.  Plenty of leaves, no flowers.  I finally cut it all down.
Today, I was cleaning out this area and noticed the leaves first. Then the blossoms.  I don't even
remember planting seeds here.

Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons. ~Jim Bishop

Fall and bobcat and flowers

 “Plants want to grow; they are on your side as long as you are reasonably sensible.”
― Anne Wareham


                                                  

Don't forget to click on picture to view larger

We are having the usual, unusual fall.  A few weeks ago it was chilly in the mornings and pleasant 70's in the afternoon.  Now, we are back to 60's at night and 80's during the day.  Poor plants get so confused.
Another week has passed and we are back to chilly mornings and temps in the 70's.
Not to worry, it will probably be 95° next week.
We sure could use some rain.
This past September was the driest September on record for our area.

As a catch up on events the past month or so I am making a list.
Rabbit invasion/decline:  There is a big bobcat in the neighborhood.
Quail visit: Still no sign of mama or babies. Hope the bobcat is not the reason.
Critter catch and release trap: Skunks, raccoon, 2 opossum, house cat so far.  Nothing taking bait lately.  Maybe they have left?  We still smell signs of skunks.  There are an awful lot of skunks in the area. A neighbor has racing pigeons and stated over 6 skunks caught and who knows what else.

 I took some lovely pictures here and there.

 

 

 

“Mandy tidied the weeds and pulled out some of the summer flowers. It saddened her to do so. She was parting with beloved friends.”
― Julie Andrews Edwards, Mandy

Hyacinth Bean Vine 

Arbors

"Necessity is the mother of invention" author unknown

Don't forget to click on a photo 
to see larger.

 These photos were taken mid June.

 I "lucked" into these arbors for less
than $100.00, end of season at Big
Lots.

We tried a couple of ways to stabelize
the arbors to stay upright and be able
to hold vines. Hubby even came up with
a "driver" idea that works just fine.

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before." - Vita Sackville-West

 This light weight, unfinished
wood one spent one year
laying on the ground after a summer of trying to come up with a way to keep it from blowing over. It would never be able to support vines that way!


I spent many wee morning hours mulling, looking at photos in books and magazines.....................
Not a good idea if you want to go back to sleep.  I have to "pick my garden magazine" reading times as I tend to get so inspired, I can hardly wait for daylight to get out there and plan.

 This metal arbor came with a gate which I repurposed to another site.

We came up with a Rube Goldberg arrangement that reinforced the knowledge that hubby is not a builder or inventive gardener. It worked, but not aesthetically pleasing.

My idea is probably not new, but just a "Why not?" one day while pondering how to have pots with vines (dream on) or lush vines growing from the ground (dreamer me).

I bought 4' T-posts at Lowe's. They are heavier metal than the 3' ones.  With the help of hubby and his clever driver, we stabilized each leg by setting post in the ground and my ever present cable ties for attaching. I will change the cable ties to black that are supposed to be less susceptible to sun's rays.

So far, they have withstood 35 mph wind gusts and hours of wind.  The real test will be when (ever the dreamer) I have vines covering them.

A 2 ½" piece of pipe and an end cap

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." - Gertrude Jekyll 1843-1932 


 "Gardening is always more or less a warfare against nature. It is true we go over to the 'other side' for a few hints, but we might as well abandon our spades and pitchforks as pretend that nature is everything and art nothing." - James Shirley Hibberd, journalist and gardener, 1825-90.