The setting sun put the spotlight on these trees.

Hard to capture with the camera, but quite glorious to behold.

  

Alas, only a short time to enjoy the colours.  The leaves are really starting to fall now.

This is what we woke up to a couple of days ago.

It’s all gone again, but I guess it was just a little taste of what’s to come.

I can hardly wait.

Not.

The pots have been cleaned up and the patio is looking bare.

A self seeded ageratum is blooming in the garden.

One warty pumpkin from the whole package of seeds. And it’s kind of ugly.

Still eating home grown raspberries for breakfast.

The hostas are turning to their fall colours.

Tiny little mushrooms growing in the mulch.

Sedums are in their prime.

Squirrels and chipmunks are busy.

The ever changing garden.

Still a lot of green in the yard with this mild fall.  Not even a killing frost yet.

But it is time to clean up what I can.

November is coming.

 

My husband and I recently returned from a trip to England.

We didn’t plan to see any gardens specifically, but we happened across several lovely gardens at palaces or churches.

This was part of the garden at Windsor Castle.

It was on the other side of the wall we walked along. Very hidden and sheltered.

Not open to the public to walk through, but lovely from a distance anyway.

This was the front of the B&B we stayed at.

She had a lovely little garden filled with many familiar plants.

And a swimming pool with a domed covering, that had a little hatch which you opened and went through down into the pool.

So you swam under this dome, and the water stayed nice and warm, even on cooler days.

Blenheim Palace gardens were large and formal.

I have pictures of the water garden and the Italian garden.

We couldn’t get quite high enough over this perfectly trimmed hedge!

The topiaries were fun too!

Summer has extended right into September here.

At the end of September, trees are just starting to turn.

Lots of blooms still out in the garden.

The familiar mums in red and yellow.

Japanese anemones – single white and double pink.

Perfect conditions for the reblooming iris, and a daylily blooming again.

The fall crocus are just about finished, but I found a few still standing.

Monkshood is such a beautiful blue.

The Rose of Sharon shrub finally gets to show off.

And the miniature roses are full of blooms again.

Toad lilies have such interesting,  orchid-like blooms.

The asters in pink and purple are always a highlight of the fall garden.

I’m so glad there are still flowers to enjoy.  I’m not quite ready to give it all up just yet.

In late spring I bought a Passion Flower vine for the pergola.

It has taken some time but now it is full of buds.

The long tendrils seem to keep growing until they find something to curl tightly around.

The blooms do not last long, but they are exotic and flamboyant.

Amazing colours and shapes!

I was thinking of taking it indoors to keep it over the winter, but that’s not always successful.

I read it might be zone 6 or 7 hardy with protection.

So I’m going to give it a good mulch and leave it out there.  It’s not that expensive to replace.

And if it survives, it will have a good early start, and earlier blooms for me to enjoy!

 

I’ve never had many roses in the garden, just too much work it seemed.

But those miniature roses that are available at the local grocery store seem to fill my need for some kind of rose.

Once a season, they are on sale for $2 a pot, and I buy a few for the garden.

Here are some just at the edge of the beds.

No fragrance, but such beautifully tiny little roses.

They are hardy plants and prolific bloomers, showing off long into fall.

For the last two years I’ve had some trouble with caterpillars, but generally they are pretty healthy, easy care plants.

Try a few for your garden.

Every garden should have room for a rose.

I have heard that this is an excellent apple year.

We have only one very old apple tree remaining on the property and it is heavy with fruit.

I can’t remember ever seeing so many apples on this tree.

The crabapples are also the fullest I’ve seen in many years.

This branch hangs low over the hosta beds.

It makes for some lovely fall colour.

 

Sometimes there is a new visitor to the pond.

I was quite surprised the first time I saw a snake in the pond.

This time he brought a friend.

I imagine fish or frogs were on the lunch menu.

This one slithered quite smoothly among the lilies.

But they both moved on.

Without lunch.