My October Garden

October usually has two faces, a still summery vibe at the beginning of the month, and a distinctly autumn feel at the end. Our last frost date is often predicted to fall mid month, and it almost always happens exactly then. I never want it to happen, but thankfully the first one is mild enough not to do much harm. Only the most tender plants get nipped that first time.

As the month progressed, the frosts continued to arrive, getting a little tougher each time. It was time to let go of more and more annuals each time. The last veggies were picked and the raised beds cleared out. It's a little sad, but part of me enjoys the break. Of course I make up for it by changing over to autumn plantings and pumpkins. I'll leave them out until Thanksgiving before switching out to Christmas greenery.

But until frost came creeping in, there were still zinnias to enjoy. The first photo below is my beloved Queen Red Lime zinnias. You may have noticed that I didn't feature any photos of them this year. That's because they did poorly, and barely thrived. I'll try again next year, and hope for the best. I did have issues with a insect vector virus, so maybe that's what happened. And if you are a zinnia fan, I really don't recommend the purple prince zinnia seeds that I often see on seed displays. They germinated in abundance, but were otherwise disappointing.

Of course dahlias are a force in early October. They were so intense that I had to run out for more supports and still needed more. Those big gorgeous blooms were weighing down the whole plant.

I also had plenty of butterflies in the garden early on. Even after the frosts, I'd still seem them now and then, especially the painted ladies. I'll sure miss them over the winter.

My roses seem to like the cooler autumn air, and continued to shoot out blooms. Honestly, they looked better than they did during the summer heat.

It's mid November now, and much has changed. We're expecting a little snow soon, much to my chagrin. But there was much to enjoy in my October garden, and I'll share some final shots now. I did spend a lot of time at the end of the month finding fall color displays to photograph, but I'll share that in another post soon. As they say "I'm glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers".

Fading Fall in November

Oh autumn, please don't go! I must admit, you stayed for an extra long visit this year. But it's never quite enough. Now November is nearly gone, and so are you. It sure was beautiful while you stuck around.

Early in the month, I still had flowers to enjoy. It wasn't very warm, but many of my flowers didn't care. They enjoyed the cool weather, and put out fresh blooms. There were even a few butterflies hanging around!

But then the hard frosts arrived. The flowers weren't impressed, but the foliage began to put on a show.

Soon, it got colder still. The trees were mostly bare. Finally there was only these last few flowers.

At the end of it all, I know the pear tree will finally put on a last hurrah. Then I know you're really gone. We had an extra nice visit this year, didn't we? I'll miss you till next year! Tell your brother Winter to be gentle on us this year, would you please?