Crabapples and Pots

Interesting what you notice walking around the yard with camera in hand...never really appreciating the beautiful berries on the crab apples up close before!...especially waking up this morning to a dark sleety, snowy day...


















A view from underneath a red maple...

















Pretty pots still doing great a week ago...



















With the garden season coming to an end, I find myself more  moody, frustrated and even depressed.  Hard to explain but I'm guessing all you gardeners can relate...

Clematis

This newly planted clematis was labeled 'Niobe', which is a deep shade of red...NOT!  Oh well, I do love purple! 

Dahlias, Lanterns and Mums...Oh My!

Some beautiful fall bloomers! This dahlia was beautiful one day and after a frosty night, it's a pile of black mush! I 'm so very sad to see the cold weather come but we've had a beautiful fall...still, I'm a southern California girl at heart! More fall photos to post soon...

Very Late Daylilies!

To my surprise, these three daylilies had blooms as late as October 18th! The red is 'Scarlet Orbit', next is 'Apple Crisp' and the single pink with dark eyezone is 'Decatur Cherry Smash'. Funnily, the blooms all survived the cool night and looked just as good on the second day! As you can see, there are still buds on the 'Apple Crisp' but I'm not sure if they will open in the next couple days as our nights are getting below 40's now...oh well, the anticipation of next summer!

Pets and Flowers

I had to share these cute photos...here's our kitty, Lacey, admiring the buddleias and next is Bandit, sitting in the vinca bed a few days before the frost got to them!

Daylilies

Two weeks after planting my mail ordered daylilies, this small fan produced a scape of eight buds! Notice it has only 1 leaf(?)! The flower was about 3 1/2" instead of the described 5" but what a nice surprise to see it bloom so quickly!

Mailbox Planter

'Best in bloom today' is my mailbox planter. The wild goldenrod was too pretty to pull out although I did pinch it back to keep the blooms low. There are so many different varieties of mums to choose from but I always tend to go for the 'daisy" types with their pretty yellow center.

Your mailbox should be the first garden friends see when visiting...don't neglect it!  This planter expands every year (as do all my other planters!) but the more I garden, the more plants I NEED to collect..it's a vicious cycle...but one my mail lady, Sue, enjoys!  Plus, it makes collecting your bills a little easier!

New York Botanical Garden

Below are pictures from the New York Botanical Garden. My first visit and I was amazed the rose garden (in mid Sept.) was in full bloom! The perennial gardens and the greenhouses were beautiful as well. Plan at least 5 hours to tour the grounds if you have a chance to visit. I will definitely be back next summer when the daylilies are in bloom.

This strawberry-colored-amaranth was a new one for me!  NOTE TO SELF:  Must find seeds!  The more common purple globed amaranths remind me of my early childhood. I wore the dried stems as earrings when my ears were pierced.  Funny how certain things jog your memory...even a plant in the garden.

This vine in one of the greenhouses was cool!  And love that fountain!

One day, I will have a solarium (or greenhouse!) so I can fill it tropical blooms while sitting back watching the snow fall...HA!  A gardener can dream...right?!