FALL FLOWERS

fall bouquet, picked yesterday

hydrangea 'limelight', mums, weed asters, mountain mint

COYOTE UGLY

two coyote pups are hanging around the campus at work....

they give new meaning to "coyote ugly"

poor things look pretty mangy

vegetables are still coming in this unusually warm october

STRONG HARVEST

we've had a dry summer, but the harvest has been good

grasshopper visits brugmansia 'cypress gardens'

THE GARDEN WAITS FOR NO (WO)MAN

"sure, hon, we can go on vacation for a week in august...."

upon our return, i was out with my headlamp to see the tomatoes decorating the potager! the garden did not let me down! time to make sauce?

two yellow crookneck squash that i picked in july...

JULY SIGHTINGS

here's the stag which figured out how to wriggle under my front garden deer fence and ate all my hostas before we could fix it... my daughter saw him within our fence at 2am... looks like he is a 6 pointer or more...

we put higher fences to keep the poodle in, and the result is actual day lilies blooming!

my husband took this clethra with the telephoto, since we were trying to photograph hummingbirds, but the light was nice

male and female gold finches enjoying marguerite daisy and sage seeds

@ NYC TRIATHLON TODAY

FLOWER FIREWORKS

july is a great time for flowers, even in the hot weather...

i planted this clematis 3 years ago and forgot about it... suddenly it is blooming; what color! anyone know its name?

hydrangea 'blue wave' took a beating when our retaining wall fell 2 years ago, but has revived...

tiny bee on a small marigold flower....

echinacea 'sundown', always dependable

i have never used my arisaema candidissimum as a cut flower before, but it lasts a week in a vase!

evergreen magnolia - this flower is dinner plate-sized...

good old rose 'heritage', cabbage-y and prolific

SALAD DAYS

the garden is both productive and beautiful in july...

squash and blossoms for dinner

the proverbial "salad days" are upon us

nasturtium 'alaska'

it's lovely to enter the potager to select dinner produce

the sugar snaps stand at attention, waiting to be picked

i'm letting the potager go wild this year... not pruning the tomatoes... let's see what happens

ALL WORK AND NO BLOG...

why have i been too busy to post?

(clematis 'kingfisher')

not because the flowers have stopped blooming...

no, because of 3 yards of sweet peet mulch! with rain the day it was delivered, i really had my work cut out for me...

above is the potager before mulch, below is after...

and the potager this evening...

vase with bi-color deutzia, allium and peonies...

rock wall before mulch....

and after...

south border before mulch...

and after...

and there's still more left! yikes!

below is vase with rose 'heritage', my favorite...

DAVIDIA BLOOMS AFTER 18 YEAR WAIT

my brother's davidia bloomed after an 18 year wait. my brother writes:

"1n 1995, I was given a 2 year old seedling of Davidia by a friend.  Davidia is a very rare tree, and it is famous for taking up to 20 years to bloom.  Every year for the past 18 years I've been looking in vain for buds and flowers.  I looked just this week.  It's been a running gag that I won't let us even think about moving until the dang thing has bloomed.

Today I was showing another friend around the garden, and he remarked "Oh, your Davidia is in bloom."  WHAHOOOO! " 

above is a long-established davidia at the arnold arboretum

my brother's tree with it's 4 flowers, above, and below...

(brother lives and gardens in massachusetts)

HAPPY MOTHER'S MAY

a wonderful time for flowers! 

the center of the potager a few weeks ago... since then i have removed the dwarf albert spruces and put tomatoes in... the narcissus put on a tremendous display and are done, now the clematis are blooming...

magnolia 'daybreak'

in the woodland garden, omphalodes' little faces are smiling...

epimedium 'bandit'n (imo still not big enough that i can divide)

fothergillia... doing better now that neighbor's got rid of a tree...

dependable camassia

this purple akebia vine is trying to kill my cherry tree and take over the entire house!

the white akebia is no less vigorous! it climbs onto the deck...

1st harvest - baby lettuces

we finally had some nice rain after a bone-dry april

tree peony... so beautiful, but the flowers only last a few days

in the center you'll find a cardinal... i was so excited to see it in the redbud while i had my camera with me - but i had my macro lens!!! so that's why this photo is sub-optimal (aka crummy)...

close up of the redbud...

purple fringe tulip... i never tire of these...