Carpe Diem! ("Skip School" and enjoy...)

Previously, before gardening (BG?), I never thought much about the Autumn season - other than the changing of the leaves.  I certainly didn't get "up close and personal" or think of November as a month with a lot to look at.  THAT is a lot of lifetime to be missing the views I captured yesterday, on a simply gorgeous Autumn day.

Sugar Maple in sunshine
 - one of the last trees to shed leaves for the Winter

It actually started when I was out running errands, and stopped for a 'to go' coffee.  As I pulled up to the store front, I immediately noticed the Autumn-themed landscaping in the sidewalk garden:

Note to self:  add Dusty Miller (Centurea cineraria) to gardens next year

Even though the Garden Mums were starting to fade (it is November in the Midwest after all!), this garden looked so robust.  As the bright colors of summer start to pale, the russet colors autumn are a warm & welcoming segue to the change of seasons.  Once my errands were done, I took a 'San Antonio Stroll' around my gardens...  it was an eye-opener.

November Images in the Garden at the Bunnies Buffet

Stole a quick photo of the neighbors' Burning Bush

The garden glider blanketed in late Autumn leaves...
(... and playing with the color saturation in Photo Studio)

Hollyhock - robust in November

The last of the Pink Guara

Sugar Maple with an Azure Sky backdrop

The last Double Pink Knockout Rose bloom...

The colors just blew me away.  The fact that so many plants were still hanging in there was fantastic.  And we will take all the sunny, 60-degree days we can get!  There is still garden maintenance to be done, and yard art to be put away (while the ground isn't frozen) - so I am due for a 'power day' cleaning up.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the last fading images of the 2011 garden season.

Sweet Potato Vine - paling in the sun

Weigela - with burnishing leaves in November

Sugar Maple in sunshine and shadows

I've missed being on the Blogosphere.  Our 'shared' home PC has been dedicated to school use recently, but I'm getting a foothold back on the family 'schedule'.  Looking forward to catching up on your blogs!!  Happy gardening...

Passive / Aggressive Gardener?

Weekends have become so precious.  The Monday through Friday routine on Life's "Habitrail" feels faster and longer, but then that could just be me?

What a GREAT photo - on the technology "habitrail"
(from the creative minds at Microsoft clip art)

I look out the window today, on a cool crisp Autumn Saturday, and it makes me smile.  The Arabian Nights Dahlia continues to bloom insanely, though the stems look more like abstract art?  Winds and storms blow the plants to & fro, and then new growth points straight to the sun...  (The stems are also very brittle, so 'note to self:  plan a better support system next year'.)

That 'baby' Shepard's Hook doesn't stand a chance
(trying to hold the dahlia up)!

Now, my question is ... why is it one minute I want to conquer the world (in my gardens), then in the next minute I look disinterestedly out the window, denying the season clean-up work that needs to be done?  Is that 'passive-aggressive'?  Is that 'burnout' from work?  ..or do I just need a few days off to recharge my batteries?  (Never mind, I think I just answered my own question.)

In the meantime, I have been appreciating the Autumn foliage!  My "$3" Garden Mums from Lowe's have come back for the 3rd season.  Their snowy-white blooms look amazing with the Royal Purple Smoke Bush as a back drop.  They also 'glow' in the night against the dark Autumn night.

Awesome contrast:
Royal Purple Smoke Bush back drop to the Snowy White Garden Mums

Up close and personal:  talk about the best 'bang for your buck'

Other Autumn 'pleasers', included a recent trip to pumpkin farm, Sonny Acres.  The entrance garden was fascinating:

Call me "Guppy" - I had to stop and check this out

Coolest plant in the garden!

And while the last of the season's blooms are out, some plants are throwing up a new growth, while others are done for the year - even without the 1st frost:

A snapshot in time ... 10/07/2011

As I toured around the gardens recently, I found a renegade Maple shoot changing colors (it was so cute I couldn't pull it).  The Center Glow Ninebark is fully recovered from last year's powdery mildew, and 'dressing' colors for Autumn.  The Cottage Garden is strategically placed near a Sunburst Locus tree, that showered all it's yellow leaves last weekend - they should mulch in the yard nicely.  The early Spring riser, Crimson Pixie Asiatic Lily went dormant early.  The new stone path in the Cottage Garden looks charming bathed in leaves, while the Dark Red Hollyhock/Malva continues to push a few new shoots.  And finally, the last dinner-plate Rose Mallow bloom faced the setting sun, one last time...

I  hope you aren't as conflicted as I have been about gardening.  I look forward to visiting your gardens this weekend!

Peace in the Garden! ...

Light 'Play' and Gentle Breezes

I'm feeling 'garden-y' ((?) probably couldn't find that in Wikipedia) and Zen this morning.  The heat & humidity broke today, so all the windows are open and there is an amazing breeze blowing through the house.  Paging through a new issue of Garden Gate, as I sat in my 3-Season room I noticed the 'light play' on the plants in the "Shade Garden" from the morning sun.

Garden Blogger, Cat - The Whimsical Gardener has a keen eye for the art of the garden, through her photography.  I look at my garden in a whole different way now - as a photo op and perhaps some personal artwork in my home.  My favorite plant progress shots are taken at sunset (as a self-described NON-morning person, 'sunrise' shots will be few and far between).  The other evening the Cottage Garden was bathed in sunset.  Here are a few shots I was able to capture:

Sunset on the Sweet Autumn Clematis
(by my 'Budding Photographer)

'Morning Light' Maiden Grass and Perennial Hollyhock
(at Sunset)

Yellow Daylily Bloom in Sunset shadows

Arabian Nights Dahlia bloom
(Must plant more Dahlias next year!)

I'm entranced by the beauty of this garden in sunset!  

So now that my 'anchor' gardens are in place and I have a sense of closure on what's done so far - I'm back in the garden plant books and pouring through garden magazines for the next phase of planning and planting.  Many of you provided a great recommendations for my 'wishlist' in 2012 and there are a few plants I fell in love with (like Lavender) as I perused my favorite garden 'haunts'.

Borrowed from the creative talent at Microsoft Clipart

I have also had a chance to surf the Blogosphere a bit and catch up with many of your blogs.  Summer has been 'spotty' for getting online, so I am incredibly behind.  In my 'virtual' travels, I try to leave you a comment - so you know I've been by.  It still blows me away how much talent is shared in this format.  Recently Tufa Girl and Toni -Signature Gardens were doing separate whorl-wind driving tours (the real kind) and introduced me (and their readers) to Karen at Quarry Garden Stained Glass.  Many of you may already know about this talent, but if you are new to the blog as I was - stop by!  "Wow" doesn't even cover it.

Time to wrap up.  It's a busy day in our house-hold as we pack up one of the "chitlins" (my kids) for another year at college.  (Geez, I must have fallen into that 'space-time contium' again?  Somehow school is starting up, which means Summer as quickly coming to an end...)

Since my post was all about gentle breezes and "light play", here is a little 'non-garden' shot to finish out this post:

Sunset at the Pier - Gulf Shores, FL

Sunshine wishes...

I Slid Off the "Grid"...

I'm quite sure I stepped into the 'Twilight Zone" or a "Space-Time Continuum"?  How it got from June 11th to July 2nd in the blink of an eye is beyond me - but the fact remains, it is officially July.

The rain has backed off a bit, but the weeds continue to thrive.  (Is there any climate they don't thrive??)   I haven't taken 'full garden' pictures - because there hasn't been a time where there aren't weeds in one corner or another!  (It's embarrassing to claim to be a 'gardener', while a big chunk of the landscape is riddled with the 'weed de jour'.)   I was even temporarily disheartened by all the weeding I've been doing - only to look out the next week to ... more weeds.  Then I found out you can burn 350 extra calories and hour - just weeding - and I was cool with the workout.

...In Training... for "Weed Slaying"!...
(Thanks to the imagery of Microsoft ClipArt)

In spite of it all, I do have some wonderful rewards - both blooms and more planted perennials:

Monarda didyma "Marshall's Delight" (Bee Balm)
3 perennial plants introduced to the 'Cottage Garden' this year

Hosta Fortunei flower bloom - either Albomarginata or Francee?

The Sunny Faces of Moonbeam Coreopsis
(there is no such thing as too many)

I love my 'Crimson Pixie' Asiatic Lily so much, when I found
this "New Wave" Asiatic Lily yesterday - it was a 'must have'.

Here's a quick "Nickel Tour" around the garden - via the latest photo collage:

Believe it or not - the Monarda didyma was taken in natural sunlight...

Perennials - established or new - are coming along well.  It's interesting to see how 'leggy' new perennials are in their 1st year of growth in the garden - tall and lanky.  I've been ghosting around a few of my favorite nurseries lately - both Platt Hill Nursery and The Growing Place - judiciously selecting 'wishlist' plants.  I found the Amsonia (Blue Star) at Platt Hill - and was thrilled to see an established plant in their sample gardens.  It's an amazing plant - highly recommended to anyone in it's favorite 'grow' zones.  I treated myself to a Butterfly Bush too...

Blooming underway on the new Butterfly Bush

The "Morning Light" Maiden Grass is starting to stretch for the sun.  I can't wait to see it at full height, especially knowing it's an Illinois native plant (now showcased in many nurseries).  Platt Hill also treated me to the variegated Jacob's Ladder I've been looking for.  Just yesterday I took a spontaneous run to The Growing Place (a 'must visit' nursery in north-eastern IL).  I was delighted to find a true perennial Hollyhock - Alcea Mars ("Magic") Red for the 'Cottage Garden'.  It is said to grow up to 6' tall - on sturdy stalks with silky dark red flowers mid-Summer.  I love the leaf structure alone - much less the flowers to come.

Alcea Mars ("Magic") Red Hollyhock

Even the "Fireball" Hibiscus (Rose Mallow) is robust.  The leaf structure on this one is so cool (I'm such a geek).

Rose Mallow ("Fireball" Hibiscus)

Sweet Autumn Clematis
(After weeks of rain ...finally planted and happily growing up  a new trellis)

So, I'm back 'on the grid' again and looking forward to catching up on the Blogosphere.  Happy Blooming...