As late as it is in the season, some plants are just showing off now.

The monkshood, so named because it looks like a little man in a hood.

Well, use your imagination.

All sorts of sedums are giving some great colour.

The Japanese Anemone, pink and white, are really doing well with all the rain.

And the orchid-like toad lilies are coming out.

The purple and pink asters are a welcome shot of colour too.

After a lovely September, October has been cooler and wet.  Even though lovely things are blooming, I’m not outside to enjoy them!

 

I’ve replanted some of my favourite plants, so I can move them indoors for the winter.  There’s the two Plumbago, and a begonia.

Some geraniums I’m going to try to save, not in soil, just bare roots.  A new method I’m trying.

And the dark purple Wandering Jew or Setcreasea ‘Purple Heart’ keeps well over winter in the house too.

The chestnuts are all falling.  A big raking job awaits.

The onions have been drying on the deck and are almost ready for storage.

The patio is getting bare.

I’ve cut back the water lilies,  trying hard not to fall in myself.

The heat is on in the house. Jackets are back in the closet.  A thicker  blanket on the bed.  Looking for stew recipes.

I think summer is over.

Castor bean or castor oil plant is a bold and beautiful plant.

Not a bean at all, the castor plant is our source of castor oil.  The leaves and especially the seeds are extremely poisonous.

The leaves are this lovely palm shape.

I grew this red variety from seed saved from last year’s plants.  It grows 4-5 feet tall, with a thick woody stem.  I don’t stake it.  It usually stays upright, unless a strong summer storm makes it lean over.

There is no bloom to speak of, it’s all about the leaves here.  The seeds are hidden in these spiked red balls.  I wait until they are more mature, when they turn more brown and dried.  Then it’s easy to pop the seeds out, and save them for next spring.

It is a striking plant in the garden, doing best in sunnier areas.

One or two plants will provide lots of  conversation with your garden visitors!

 

 

 

 

 

Every fall I have to buy gourds, so this year I decided to grow my own.

I bought just one package of mixed gourds.

I planted all of the seeds in the package.

I honestly didn’t think every one would come up.  But they did.

The plants stayed under control in the garden, for a very short time.

Soon I was trying to keep all those vines in their own allotted space.  Which didn’t work very well really.

It was lots of fun watching all the different little gourds develop.

Fast forward to harvest time.  I have a lot of gourds.

I really mean it, a lot  of gourds.

The mixed package was a good idea.  A great variety of shapes and colours, warty and smooth.

I gave them all a good scrub and let them continue to dry in the sun.  I read somewhere to cut them off with at least 2 inches of stem, to allow for drying out.

The tiny, immature ones are starting to get soft, but the mature gourds are all looking good.

So I have lots to decorate with, and lots to give away.  Worth it to try once, but I’m not sure I’ll give all that garden real estate up again next year.

 

Last spring my little shrubs did not look very good.  With the very cold winter, the heavy snows on top of them,

and the rabbit damage, well, they were pretty beat up.

I like little groups of shrubs, but the problem is that the mower can’t get between them very well as they grow,

and every time the lawn is cut,  I find a branch or two broken off.  Not that I’m blaming the driver or anything.

The only solution we have found is to group them, and mulch around them.

First we have to kill the grass. (And try not to miss any spots.)

Then we spread some really nice mulch on the bed, and added the birdbath, and some “ruins”.

The shrubs are now safe, and the mower driver is happy.  These shrubs did really well this summer with all the rain.

Quite a difference in a few months.

Except for the barberry bush.  Something was eating it.

Apparently we have another shivery and shovelry winter coming, so I’ll have to do some wrapping and protecting this fall.

One of the annuals I plant every year is Nicotiana Sylvestris. It is a flowering tobacco. You will know about the smaller nicotianas

that are sold in garden centres every spring.  They come in pinks, reds, purples, and lime green.

But nicotiana sylvestris is white, fragrant, and much, much taller.

Each plant produces thousands of seeds, but believe me, you only need 5 or 6 of these plants.

They start out pretty small.

And they don’t seem to grow too fast in the beginning.  If they don’t have enough space, other plants will soon crowd them out.

But once they shoot up, they really make quite a statement.

You’ll only have to buy the first package of seeds, and from then on you’ll have plenty of seeds available.

They have a lovely fragrance in the evening, and they can be a real star in your garden!

I always like to empty out the pots and hanging baskets before it gets too cold.

Even though the plants are still quite nice, I’m just ready to clean it all up.  We’re not sitting outside much anymore, and I start to neglect the watering and deadheading.

But empty pots are really kind of depressing.  Definitely feels like the season is coming to an end.

I did find some good stuff in the garden yet today.  Lots of cherry tomatoes,  and a few flowers left yet to pick.

A pailful of onions to dry, and some gourds for fall decor.  And a few perfect red peppers.

Most of the garden vegetables have been disappointing  this year.  Carrots were smothered by the gourds and shaded by huge sunflowers.

The beets just never grew much either.  Most of the broccoli plants never even developed heads.  Beans started to mould and rot in the constant damp.

But, the flowers were great, and the onions and shallots were really good.  Plenty of peppers, too.

And gourds.  Lots of gourds.

 

Misty mornings are not that common in the summer, so I didn’t want to miss this chance. Skip breakfast until later,

get out the rubber boots and get out there.

 

There is such a different feeling in the fog.

Everything was very still and quiet.

Magical morning in the mist.

I ordered a package of acidanthera corms to plant in the garden this past spring.  Tiny little bulbs, you can’t imagine how they will produce such lovely flowers.

They have tall green spikes, with strappy leaves, much like gladiolus. These white flowers open in sequence, up the stem,

and they have a wonderful fragrance.

The centre of each flower has this purplish-brownish star, a lovely accent.

Acidanthera are not winter hardy here.  I’ll have to dig them up, but they are pretty easy to keep in a box  and easy to plant again next spring.

Not very common, but really worth a try!

Just a picture post today.   Enjoy!