Stay Away Jack Frost

Our first frost is threatening tonight. Say it isn't so! Now I know it's that time of year, but I'm always in denial right about now. I tell myself that the frost will magically pass me by. But eventually it arrives, and that's the end of my garden season till next year. 

Endless Summer hydrangea with begonias

Dinner plate dahlia

Birdbath jumble

Got what I needed, thanks! 

There hasn't been much new to look at in my garden for awhile. It seems like every day I'm taking more photos of the same zinnias, snapdragons, and dahlias. But they continue to delight me, so why not? 

Raspberry Lemonade mix zinnias 

Queen Red Lime zinnias

Tequila Lime zinnias

Digiplexis Berry Canary with Tall Ribbon Mix snapdragons

Cafe au Lait dahlia

Dahlias and sunshine

I've found that autumn light is extra favorable to garden photography. The low angle of the sun makes the light softer. I can hardly wait till the sun begins to set, so that I can run out and get more photos of my grasses glowing. 

Morning Light miscanthus

Lone Queen Red Lime zinnia with Karly Rose pennisetum

Karly Rose pennisetum 

Karly Rose with verbena bonariensis

A few butterflies still pass through, which always delights me. Every monarch that comes through is photographed if possible, while sending them off with good wishes towards Mexico. 

The roses have been revived by the cooler air. They tend to survive a few light frosts because the blooms are up above the ground. One year I had roses in early December, what a treat! 

Sunny Knockout rose, the fragrant knockout

Funny Face rose

Chinatown rose

For reasons that I don't quite recall, we are having a late start with our fall color change. There's still a lot of green out there for mid October. After this frosty weekend ahead, we should really start to see some color out there. If you didn't look too closely, my garden looks almost summery. Almost. 

Queen Red Lime zinnias with Sedum Autumn Joy

Amsonia hubrichtii starting to turn gold

Last year, I did a trial for Proven Winners, which was a lot of fun. The annuals are long gone, of course, but the perennials live on. This is Cinnamon Curls heuchera, and while it's pretty, it hasn't grown any bigger than when I first planted it a year and a half ago. Maybe next year it will put out some growth or flowers? Sure looks nice here in the tapestry of the other foliage nearby. 

PW Cinnamon Curls heuchera

This PW is Sugar Shack buttonbush. It looks like the leaves will be putting on a show. But those same leaves are popular with leaf cutters of some kind, and I'm not sure how to fight that. If it's going to look like this all summer, what good is it? It gave me one "button" flower this year, but the plant itself has grown by leaps and bounds. I'm sure I'll see more blooms next year. The verdict remains out. 

PW Buttonbush Sugar Shack

PW Little Quickfire hydrangea is a real beauty. Last year it had two flower heads, this year there are many more. I love the way the flowers start out white, then fade to pink and then dark pink. I've dried a few blooms for the winter, but didn't want to leave the whole thing bare by cutting anymore. I'm hoping that it will have so many flowers next year that it can spare a few more for me. 

PW Little Quickfire hydrangea in July

PW Little Quickfire hydrangea in August

PW Little Quickfire hydrangea in October

I was honored to find out that I took home honorable mention in Gardening Gone Wild's recent End of Summer photo contest! Do you think I should tell them that I didn't even use an SLR for this shot? 

Let's all cross our fingers that frost stays away from my garden for a little longer, shall we? I just need a few more flowers to get me through winter. 

Perky pansy pot

Queen Red Lime zinnias with extra pink coloring

Queen Red Lime zinnias with extra muted coloring

Zinnias, verbena, sedum, gazing ball jumble

Rieger begonias

As Summer Winds Down

The calendar says that fall has officially arrived now, but as long as the flowers are still blooming, I feel like summer is still winding down. Honestly, I think September is the finest month in all the land. I still have all my flowers, the days are warm but the nights are cool, the humidity is gone, and the skies are ever blue. I'm finding it hard to stay indoors for housework, when I'd much rather be outside.

It's a bittersweet time of year. I'm trying to savor the beauty of the last blooms, knowing that frost could be only a few weeks away. Every year I beg summer to stay, but it doesn't help, does it? Autumn surely follows.

It would seem that I'd be accustomed to seeing my summer flowers fall to frost every year, after all this time. But I'm not. It's always a little sad.

Still, I have to admit that I enjoy my long winter's rest. It's nice to relax and dream about next year's garden. I'm not sure that I'd fully appreciate a full year of gardening. Winter makes the summer garden season all the more precious.

As much as I love the flowers here in Robin's Nest, by far the most thrilling garden adventure that I enjoyed this summer was when I raised two monarch caterpillars all the way into their transformation to beautiful butterflies. I understand that many butterfly nuts like me do this every year, but this was a first for me. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will have seen the caterpillars and the chrysalis that followed. It was amazing to see, for sure.

But to see the butterfly emerge, and then fly off towards Mexico was just plain amazing. If you have never done this, you simply must.

Sweet September was a fine, fine month for me here in Robin's Nest. I'll be sorry to turn the page to October, but then again, it's nearly as wonderful as September. Autumn is our reward for the winter that follows it.

September Sights

The calendar has turned to September, and the kids are back to school. But that doesn't mean it feels like fall. It's still plenty hot and sticky, and it feels like August. But soon, very soon, the days will start to cool, and it will actually *feel* like September. I hope anyway! I really like the cool, clear days that usually characterize September. Bring it on!

I'm a big fan of October too, and fall in general. But no, I don't care one bit about pumpkin spice lattes. It seems that's all anyone cares about this time of year! I won't rush through September though, it's one of my favorite months.

It's not quite summer, it's not quite fall. Flowers are still blooming with abandon, but the vegetable garden is fading fast. It was not a banner year for vegetables, that's for sure. As a matter of fact, it was one of the worst harvest years ever. Luckily, the tomatoes are still producing. Come winter, I'm sure going to miss having fresh tomatoes every day. The carrots did well, as you can see.

Many of my perennials finish up their blooming by September, so I depend on annuals. The snapdragons, zinnias, dahlias, coleus, and moss roses are carrying the load when it comes to garden color.

I haven't seen as many butterflies this month as I usually do, and I'm disappointed in that. It's monarch season, and I've only seen one so far. However, I do have some visitors in my kitchen...aren't they cute? One of the other master gardeners was passing out these monarch caterpillars recently, and I said I'd raise a couple to maturity. I've always meant to try this!

I did catch one making its chrysalis, but couldn't manage to get a decent photo of the process. Still, it was absolutely fascinating! Now I'm waiting for the other one to do the same, before I run out of milkweed. I hope I don't miss the transition to butterfly. It will be another week or so before that happens. I don't care how old you are, this is an amazing thing to see! Stayed tuned for the arrival of the butterflies themselves.

Hope you enjoyed my September sights, I know I sure did!