Thursday, September 29, 2005

Season Turning

There comes a day, every year in the garden where, sometimes without really realizing it at first, you find yourself doing the first fall, winding down, chore. Today I found myself pulling up the tall lily stakes, and realized that all too soon, frost will creep into the woods, and the show will be over for another year; a thoughtful moment, for sure.

Monday, September 26, 2005

A Garden Walk With Liz


While I was gone this weekend, Liz went for a garden walk on a misty day, with her little Canon, and took some snapshots. I was quite interested to see her view of the garden; no spectacular shots of double blooming whatsit bushes or wide angle shots... rather, a series of quiet, intimate little pictures, showing small details I'd never see. If I live with her for a hundred years, I'll never grow tired of discovering who she is. Posted by Picasa


Winding trail. Posted by Picasa


Drippy nose. Posted by Picasa


Fungus amongus. Posted by Picasa


Taking a leaf out of the book? Posted by Picasa


The hosta bed is this way. Posted by Picasa


Rose view. Posted by Picasa


Tomato and bench. Posted by Picasa


Ornamental grass. Posted by Picasa


It's hard to find a place to read in peace around here. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 25, 2005

What the heck is that?


In my woodland garden, over the years I've picked up plants from here and there; some bought, some grown from seed, some were gifts, and occasionally I don't know where the heck they came from; they just appear one day, quite to my amazement. This is an example of a mystery plant... it has a label (which was slightly mis-spelled), by which I know it is Leucoseptrum stelliperum. The catalogue descriptions of this plant are quite glowing... it is a Japanese woodland wildflower... but it doesn't do much for me, and looks like it could cover a lot of territory. I'll be keeping an eye on it, now that I know it's there.Posted by Picasa

Bee careful out there

I recently blogged about how I seem to dig up at least one yellow jacket nest every year, to my regret. This is a record year, probably because of our drought, in that I've just unearthed my third nest of the year. The first nest only got me once, the second time I didn't get stung at all, and this last nest, which was the mother of all yellowjacket nests, was pretty awesome, but I apparently beat a retreat before getting stung . Five minutes later, as I was walking up the path, I found out too late that one of them had gotten into my shorts.

A Walk In The Garden Today


This is the season when darkness starts to creep into the garden, when tiny fall flowers and foliage look like bright jewels on the somber earth, and when the gardener needs to pause, and take some time down on hands and knees, to closely observe these little plants... this is the newly emerging foliage of Cyclamen coum E. A. Bowles. Posted by Picasa


Gentiana paradoxum. Posted by Picasa


Cyclamen coum; a silver leafed form. Posted by Picasa


Tricyrtis 'Lightning Strike'. Posted by Picasa


I've before touted Podophyllum 'Kaleidoscope'; this shows how fresh and interesting its foliage still looks, even after a summer of record heat and dryness (of course this connotes some concern about winter hardiness... so far only one Iowa winter under its belt, and it emerges very early in the spring and MUST be protected from hard freezes then, in our climate). Posted by Picasa


Heuchera ' Frosted Violet'. Posted by Picasa


Tricyrtis 'Moonlight'. Posted by Picasa


Japanese fern 'Silver Falls'. Posted by Picasa


Cyclamen hederifolium Silver leaf. Posted by Picasa


Late rose. Posted by Picasa


Late rose. Posted by Picasa


Cyclamen cilicium... this is not supposed to be hardy here, but has done well for a number of years. Posted by Picasa


Early mums. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

The Malevolent Storm

Rita now has the third lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in an eye of a hurricane, only bested by the monster Gilbert, and the 1935 Labor Day storm; may God have mercy on all creatures in its path.

A Walk In The Garden Today


My new favorite toadie: 'Rasberry Mousse'; flowers blotched and spotted with deep rasberry purple, and the flowers seem to open all at once all the way down the stem, so much more spectacular. Posted by Picasa

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