Autumnal foliage

I have had requests for fall foliage pix  from some readers who no longer live in the area.  On Wednesday, I took a walk with a friend and our dogs up a hill near our house and took a few photos.  Thursday morning, I took a walk around my neighborhood and snapped some more.  The light has been gorgeous and the leaves have really been putting on a show this year.   We had a big rain storm Thursday afternoon and the leaves really started coming off the trees.  Then the sun came out.  There was a rainbow and the trees were on fire.  Many leaves still linger today, but the peak is over and stick season is coming.

I love this tree – so many colors on the same branch

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Williams Barn area – a mile from my house

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More at Williams Barn

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Williams Barn outbuildings

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Cemetery across the street from my house

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My side yard – close-up

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More side yard

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Hollis St – just around the corner

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Hollis Street view from Common Street

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Maples on Martin’s Pond Rd

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Barn on my street

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Rainbow after the storm.. view from my porch

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Across the street

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View from the porch

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The sun came out after the storm and the light made this tree just flame orange

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Bloom Day October

When I started this blog last spring, I discovered lots of other gardening blogs.  Many participate in something called garden bloom day.  On the 15th of every month gardeners all over post pictures of what is blooming in their gardens.  This is my first attempt at linking in to all that .. so here goes.. this is what’s happening in the garden today.  It has been a beautiful fall, and we have only had a light frost in the meadow so a lot of things are still hanging in there.

These dahlias are a bit faded but still nice – very old ones from my childhood that I have kept going for “ahem” decades

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I love the edge color on this one – a miniature –  new this year – name tag is around somewhere

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Autumn gentia – Gentian scabra ‘Zuikorindo’ – I have this in my alpine garden

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Plumbago and iris foliage

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Toad lily

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Montauk daisy, some phlox and a dahlia peeking through

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Sheffield daisy just beginning to unfold.. I call these Mom’s mums – because they came from my Mom’s garden

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Allium ‘ozawa’

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An African Blue basil and a marigold ‘Lemon Gem’  hanging out together in the herb garden

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Maple and birch – the view from the back patio

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And then there’s this guy..  I think those are definitely chipmunk cheeks – oh dear

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Not done yet

Its hard to beat New England in the fall when the leaves are at peak.   They steal the show of course, but the garden is letting me know its not done yet.

Beautiful blue Monkshood
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Sisyrinchium  – ‘Quaint and queer’

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Aster – ‘Alma Potschke’

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Basil – ‘African blue’

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Orostachys from Peter G.

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Orostachys iwarenge  the bees love these little plants

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Sedum  – I lost the name of this one – gorgeous colors though

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A late blooming allium

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Pineapple sage

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October 1

It is now autumnal out there in the garden.  We didn’t get frost yet so all the tender things are still blooming.  I’ve been transplanting and dividing some of the iris and daylilies that outgrew their spaces and moving around a few things that would look better elsewhere.  Its been very dry so I’ve had to water a bit too.

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Cimicifuga ‘Black Negligee’ from friend Martha

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Late blooming toad lily from friend Wendy

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Canna and salvia
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This rose came with the house – its competing for space with the Geranium macrorrhizum

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I love the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and the smoke bush colors together..  these two are exactly where they were when we moved in

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Withering daylily foliage

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Here’s where I’ve done a bit of “remodeling” – the area was full of iris which have now been divided and shared with seven garden friends

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This isn’t in my garden, but its just up the road a bit.. the leaves are definitely doing their thing

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Approaching frost

The garden made it through last night.  I covered the dahlias, cannas, elephant ears and succulents and brought in the orchids.    The dog was not happy with all the ghostly apparitions (aka sheet draped plants) though.  Tonight we’ll do the frost dance all over again and then we should be ok for a few more weeks.  There is a certain point in the garden where I’m willing to say “enough – let it all freeze” – but that time is not yet.  There’s still too much pretty stuff to look at and the grass is even green.

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Rudbeckia Nitida herbstsonne (yellow) and Verbena bonariensis float above the spent daylily leaves, Rudbeckia “Prairie Sun’ in the foreground

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Smokebush, Sedum Autumn Joy and Anemone

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Grasses from friend Kim

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Aster

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Variegated physostegia  – also known as obedient plant – from sister Amy

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Pink Physostegia – I have a white one somewhere but it hasn’t bloomed yet

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Autumn blooming crocus

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Verbena bonariensis in the morning mist

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Boltonia from friend Sue B.

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Variegated Sedum from friend Joan C.

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Morning dew on Smokebush leaves1

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Not ready to give these up yet

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Nor these..stay away frost

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Esther could care less.. she just wants to go for a funwalk in the woods and jump in the river

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Its gorgeous out there.. a good day for transplanting stuff…..

 

September song

The first week of September has been spectacular in my part of the world.  Although its dry and the lawn isn’t looking too great, many of the plants are singing their September songs.

Clematis ‘rooguchi’ –  a new addition this year.  I saw it at my friend Sue B.’s, loved it, and was thrilled to find it at a local nursery

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Morning glories winding through the Rhododendron

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Torenia – I don’t grow many annuals any more, but these little faces are bright and bloom all summer long and into fall

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Another ToreniaP1040147

Orostachys starting to bloom

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Sedum sieboldii variagata

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A sedum with a “lost” name

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Sedum ‘angelina’ – still in its green phase..it will turn a beautiful orange soon

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An afternoon view of the main garden

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Labor Day

Summer isn’t over yet.  Labor Day weekend finds the garden still putting on a show.

A new anemone

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Toad lily

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Saponaria in the soapstone sink trough

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Sedum ‘Madrona’
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Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and Smokebush

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Sunflower
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Verbena bonariensis
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A whole bunch of pretty stuff in the morning

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Self heal
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Mountain mint from friend Sue B.

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These morning glories re-seed avery year

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Sedums in the front bed
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New Guinea Impatiens in an old cast iron pot we found at our first house in Simsbury, CT in 1978

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Tree frog in the succulent trough

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Fall anemone – new this yearP1040129

Ligularia
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CannaP1040127

And when the garden looks great what do you do?  You have a garden party!

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Lanterns after dark
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Brugmansia in the spotlight

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What a grand summer in the garden!

 

 

 

Brugmansia!

I like to grow fun stuff sometimes.  I saw these plants in New Orleans and Florida and fell in love with them.  I purchased a bulb from Logee’s Greenhouse three years ago, and it has done very well.  ( I put it in the basement during the winter).  The buds are very cool at all stages of development.    There are a lot of  photos, but I just couldn’t resist.  The scent is intoxicating as well – especially in the evening.  Enjoy.

Early buds

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Starting to open

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Unraveling

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The blossom starts out yellow and changes to orange

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This morning, picking up the sunlight

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Summer sliding away

What glorious weather we’re having.   It’s quite crisp so I have been able to do some much needed weeding and transplanting.  The daylilies are almost done but the dahlias are going strong.  Much of the garden slows down this time of year  –  those lazy days of summer linger a bit longer in the garden too.

Thalictrum rochebrunianum – this delicate plant adds a real fairy garden feel in the shade.. the flower scape is five feet high

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Close-up of the blossoms

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Agapanthus

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Queen Ann’s lace in the meadow

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Grasses in the meadow  – morning dew

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Dew drops on a meadow grass

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Hydrangea blossom

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Hosta leaf

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Knock-out rose bud

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Asiatic lily and birches

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The Carolina wrens getting breakfast

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Fledged!

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August has been beautiful!

Wow.  Usually August is dog days, hot hazy humid.. its not over yet but it sure has been gorgeous in my neck of the woods.   The daylilies and dahlias continue and  phlox are blooming.

Faith’s phlox – these are from friend Faith’s garden.  They are  extremely fragrant and don’t seem to get mildew.

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My grandmother’s white phlox – these came from her garden

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Care for something tropical?  The elephant ears are getting pretty big and the succulents are thriving

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These hardy hibiscus were here when we moved in

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When the weather is this nice, dinner al fresco is in order

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The veggie bounty is coming

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Tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant, blueberries, squash, cukes, herbs…

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And a platter of daylilies…

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