Great weather over the region this weekend. Sunny, warm, wondrous blue sky. The dogs did not want to come in, lounging in the sun and basking in the day, even ignoring those scampering critters on the fence.
Speaking of those fluffy-tailed fellows, did you know squirrels like tomatoes? I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the tomato plants have been ravaged and sacked! The squirrels carry away some, chew on others, leaving the remains; or just stick a claw or tooth into random tomatoes still on the vine. See the "bad" photo below. (clicking on photos will make them larger).
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| Tomato Rampage |
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| Blueberry Plant |
There were some good things to see in the garden though. The deep red foliage of the blueberry plants, almost the same Autumn Red color of my house.
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| Climbing rose |
Roses still blooming, even with some of the cooler temperatures and light frost of the last week or two. These roses have given us so much pleasure over the past summer.
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| My husband's rose, "Veteran's Honor" |
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| Hanging cone planters from the Wedding |
The four hanging planters from Raethan's wedding are still going strong. I highly recommend this trailing bacopa for any hanging pots or window boxes you may want to plant next summer. So full, and pretty tolerant of bright, dry conditions.
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| variegated hydrangea |
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No blooms on this variegated hydrangea this summer. But it put on lots of growth. The foliage is impressive, with the white streaks the perfect accent in the Moon Garden.
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| Weeping Willow |
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The little weeping willow we planted this summer (having bought at a super bargain price) has grown very well and is weeping splendidly! Directly behind the willow is the amazing Japanese Maple that provides such glorious views all summer into fall. It was here when we bought the house 6 years ago, and is really stunning. It should be changing from dark red soon into a vivid bright red.
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| Mountain Ash, also called Rowan | |
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We have had a huge crop of berries on the Rowan this year. Folk lore tells that a bumper crop of berries on the rowan portends a harsh winter. May I just say no to that? I am actually harvesting some of these berries for my magickal herb cupboard. (Look at that gorgeous blue sky in the photo!! Fantastic)
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| Mums, chives, weeds and more weeds |
Okay here is the ugly portion of this post. Isn't this shocking!! This is what I call the Chimney Garden, as it is on the side of the house where the stove pipe from our wood stove is attached.(Photos above and below)
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| Lemon balm, chives, goat's beard, mums, weeds, weeds, weeds |
This bed was terribly neglected all summer. All our energies (and money) went into the Wedding Garden. This is a perennial bed with spring bulbs blooming in April and May, then the chives and lemon balm, shasta daisies, goat's beard, mums and some other "stuff" popping up. It really is awful-looking, and what's worse, this bed is totally visible to everybody who passes by. Really a shame, but next spring and summer will be a different story. It will come forth, like the Phoenix from the ashes. In the meantime, the birds, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks have been having a blast in the Chimney Garden.
Meanwhile, I hope you have been checking out some of the blogs that are taking part in the 2011 Countdown to Halloween. Just click on the button at the top of my sidebar to see some great bloggers and their Halloween postings. You don't have to read all the blogs at one sitting, you know. They will be there all month!!
Have a great Monday, and a fab week!!
10 comments:
My sister-in-laws feeds mango bits to the squirrels that live on the tree behind her house. I guess they are into fruits too.
I'm not a rose person, but I love your husband's "Veteran's Rose" and the willow is so adorable.
Your garden is lovely.....even the chimney garden. Ours has been neglected this year completely and I wouldn't dare show you a picture.
Sounds like you had a good weekend, minus the rampaging squirrels. We spent the whole of yesterday, clearing out the gutters and mucking out the mess. The kids loved getting dirty. Not a pretty job but at least maybe now the snow and ice won't build up on the eaves.
I'll catch up with you this week. Linda
I appreciate your "ugly" garden pictures. I have some of those too and it is good to know I am not alone. :)
Your gardens all look beautiful to me!
All my garden attempts end up as an "ugly garden!" :) Next year I am going to try again.
I am not surprised at anything squirrels will eat. Or raccoons. Or crows.
How tall does a rowan tree grow? I want to plant one in my yard next year! (uh oh. poor tree)
I didn't know squirrels ate tomatoes! I guess they eat anything that doesn't kill them :-) :-)
That Japanese maple is beautiful! They don't survive in my garden though, the winter is just to tough.
Rowan ber¨ries is great to make jelly on as well and some like ton dry them and eat like candy in winter. But I have tasted better candy to be honest :-) :-) :-)
Have a great day!
Christer.
Sounds like you had a lovely weekend. :) The weather here was amazing this weekend too, and my boys spent a lot of time napping under the oak tree!
Happy Monday Robin ;o) Love the pictures, even the "Chimney Garden". All the animals are having fun with it, so that's a great thing ;o) Our pine cones on the evergreen trees are at the top and full, this means a harsh winter too. The higher the pine cones, the harsher the winter and they are right at the top! Let's hope we are both wrong! ;o)
The Mountain Ash trees here are loaded with berries as well - will see what the winter brings....
Your hydrangea is gorgeous, as are the planters from the wedding. Will make note of the trailing bacopa for next summer's use. Thank you for letting us know about it. :0)
And the blueberry plant is GORGEOUS!!! So brilliant! And those silly, pesky squirrels! They really took a 'bite' out of the apple crop I could've had from my tree!
Have a fantastical week!
P.S. Does your Lemon Balm overwinter okay? I brought some with me from Arkansas and didn't plant it because I wasn't sure it would withstand the winter.
Wonderful post. We have not had the squirrell problem with tomatoes, only with pecans. The cats and dogs usually keep them away from the garden.
I refuse to listen to your berries! I hope they are wrong. The horses are not growing their winter woolies like they were this time last year so I'm hoping against hope, it a kind winter.
What are these berries used for?
Thank you so much for the info regarding your Lemon Balm! I know just where I want to plant it! :0)
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