Gardening, anyone?
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70charger- I love the fall, but am seeing some things in the garden starting to fade now as the cooler weather moves in. The gardens will be good for awhile yet, we usually don't get any hard freezes until around the 3-4 week of October.
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Jackbirdie gorgeous bouquet. Love it! cosmos are so pretty too. I should try to grow those again. I tried once at another house and they didn't do well but I forgot how pretty they are.
To the Albertans: so sorry you have fall coming already. I kind of heard this is an El Niño year which should bring a warmer winter to Chicago so maybe that's why it is still summery. It would be nice to have a mild fall and winter. I'm thinking about doing terrariums or something to give me something to do in the winter. Maybe bonsai?
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Speaking of cosmos, I came away with this lovely bouquet this morning from a gal I have come to buy flowers from every time I go. She sells whatever she has for $5 a bunch and they are nothing less than spectacular.
Oh and the produce was never better this year than today. I came away with fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, lemon cukes, kale and fresh salad greens. I have some yummy things to eat today and for the week.
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Jackbirdie- Those are so pretty! My asters will not bloom until late October. For all of our northern sisters, I am sorry for the cool weather so early. It is projected to hit 100 today and tomorrow! Ouch. I am ready for some cooler weather. Love seeing all the beautiful pictures you guys post. Now, heading out to the pool!
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Moni I will take a bit of your heat, 100 wow. It is 48 and raining slightly. Cool.
I had to laugh yesterday. I found a tiny 1 inch goldfish baby in one of the ponds. He/she will stay in a goldfish bowl for the winter. Other wise a fish snack for my big guys.
Happy gardening all
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Making the most of what's left in the garden! This year I saw no sign of the usual squash bugs, and have been harvesting 2 -3 cute little patty pan squash daily for the last 2 weeks. I also used the blossoms, stuffing them with goat cheese and sauteeing in a little olive oil. I've eaten my fill of the grapes and have given some to everyone I can think of, so I am dehydrating the rest to make homemade raisins!
Jackbirdie and Jazzy, I love those glorious late summer bouquets you posted. Cosmos and purple asters are some of my favorites. Great looking veggies from your grower, Jazzy.
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Putting in (more) bulbs--nothing very imaginative, just the jumbo packs of little crocuses and dutch irises today. Tomorrow, more crocuses and irises, and some daffodils. And a fair bit of hope for the future, not so much that I'll be here, but that I'll be enjoying them.
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Beautiful vegetables, grapes and cosmos! I saw a pretty butterfly today and it sat for a photo.
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Two hobbies- what a beauty!
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My garden is still churning out heaps of tomatoes - Have been making lots of sauce to put in the freezer. Great year for sweet and hot peppers, the plants are still loaded. We've been slowly harvesting potatoes and carrots as we need them.
Since everyone posted photos of their sedums a while back I figured I'd add mine to the bunch (the bees love it!):
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Monis- beautiful sedums!
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Two hobbies. . .great pix. Is that milkweed? I need to plant some to bring the monarchs back to our yard.
Scottie
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I feel good we are supporting the bees with all of our sedums across the country!
Scottie I'm not sure what that plant is. They bloom in the fall with asters here in the Midwest. They are silvery white.
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I'm supporting the bees too. All of a sudden they are in, over, and everywhere around my hummingbird feeders. Not pleased. I know they are endangered and this is a temporal condition, or so my research says. And beneficial to the garden. I hope they go bother someone else so my hummers can come back. Some always stay through the winter here. I have never known the bees to,though. I live in moderate coastal Oregon where we have no frost. Anyone have any input?
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Jackbirdie- I hear you on the bees. They pester my birds endlessly! Yes, your bees will most likely be there year round as you do not have extreme cold. They are most likely building stores for the winter. When the flowers stop blooming and there is less pollen, they will seek out the feeders. I am a bee keeper, so I put some syrup out for them also in a different type of feeder and this helps. Bee feeders are available on line and are inexpensive. I am completely in favor of supporting the bees!
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My gardens were abundant with bees, but now as things are cooling down, I don't see as many around. Hummers seem to be mostly gone too, although I still see a few around and feeders still up.
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It is the natural evolution that the bees build up the honey stores at this time of year and then the hives thin. A Queen may leave and take part of the hive and some of the remainder of the bees die off and leave only a skeleton crew for the winter. They will not make 'new bees' during the winter and live off the honey that is stored. Hives that run into the thousands pare down to hundreds during the winter. Barring any catastrophe, the hives will once again start to build up in early spring.
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Moni thanks- my garden is organic, and I would never do anything to hurt the bees. Perhaps I can put some flat dishes of syrup out in easy access areas and hummer feeders in shadier, less obvious areas. I had hummers through the winter last year. I just love them. But I know the bees need a hand.
What kind of syrup? Something like corn syrup? I read on line somewhere you could offer bees something with much higher sugar concentration away from the feeders and reduce the ratio of sugar in the hummer feeders. Does that make sense? Homegrown honey. Yum.
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Jack birdie- the syrup ratio for bees is 1/1. Regular sugar and boiled water. NO corn syrup. A very shallow dish works, just have to keep it with syrup, not deep enough to drown them. The bee feeders are mason jars with little tiny holes poked in the lids and held off the dish about an inch by a support. Cost a couple dollars on line. Company named Brushy Mountain is where I get most of my supplies. The bees will fair okay with hummer feeders though.
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Teka- pretty pictures! Love me some asters!
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Teka- so beautiful! All of it!
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Teka- that is a striking, stunning photo. I love the dimension!
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Love the asters, can't wait until mine bloom. How nice fall is on schedule there! We are still around 100! With the drought, here the grass is a goner. Can't wait until (hoping) we get some rain. When they say 'California gold', it is truly what it looks like here. not much green any more.
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Beautiful Teka- some of the prettiest things come out late in the season!
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all the beautiful asters are making me think I should look for some for my flower bed but I'd need some that are not so tall and leggy as the wild ones I see. It would be nice to have something blooming besides my worn out petunias and flower pots. I pulled up the leggy petunias today. It has turned very blustery and rainy but still see 60 and 70s in the forecast so I didn't pull up all my annuals.
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Lots of sales going on. One home store here had asters for cheap, so we got a few. They are so bright and cheerful.
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We had snowflakes falling this morning.
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Some fall foliage pics from my family trip to upstate NY last weekend!
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Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for those!
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Lovely pixs. Thanks for sharing.
Scottie
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