November blooms

Are you tired of my flowers yet? I think their days are numbered. We have had several mornings where the thermometer read in the 20's. However, last Friday I went out in a small flurry of snowflakes and took the first two photos below. The rest were taken today. I have to enjoy them while I can!!

fall blooms

We've had two very windy days now, and I'm happy to report the oil/gas film on the lake from our neighbors' boat sinking has disappeared.

Our boat was pulled yesterday, so this weekend we'll be getting that winterized and ready to cover for the winter. If the weather cooperates, we'll also try and get a start on taking the dock out. It's way more fun getting all of these things out in the spring than putting them away this time of year! Here are a few more of the blooms I've been enjoying the last week or so.

Carefree Beauty rose

hibiscus

turtlehead

snakeroot (I think "Brunette")

anemone

veronica

John Davis rose

more September blooms

Kind of a quiet, boring day here - we spent most of the day leveling a space for my new garden/storage shed. Hopefully, I'll have photos to share of the new shed within the next week. Tonight we went out for pizza with friends - a very fun evening of catching up.

Here are more photos of this weekend's blooms.


This is by far the best photo I have ever taken of spiderwort. Usually they come out looking very flat. This one is perfect (if I do say so myself!). About a month ago, I cut most of the spiderwort back, and now they are blooming again.

This is the wild coneflower that's been blooming all summer. This is a workhorse!!

The mountain bluet is blooming again also. I love these spidery blue blooms.

I have a snakeroot plant that has been moved many, many times. For the last few years, it hasn't been very happy and hasn't bloomed. So last fall, I moved it to yet another home. When I dug up the plant, it split into 3 plants. They all look healthy, but they are just now sending up these little flower stalks. I think they're the same variety as the ones I showed blooming a couple months ago - big, beautiful flower spikes. I'll give these another year here - hopefully, they'll bloom earlier and better next year. (If not, I do have a couple more places to try :) !)

Here's one of my dark snakeroot - I believe this one is "Brunette." It's just starting to bloom. Again, not terribly impressive. This one may not be getting as much moisture as it wants - it's right next to the river birch clump. Gosh, I hate to move these things all the time.

The physostegia - or obedient plant. This is a fun little plant that should keep increasing in number every year.

Turtlehead. Not a great photo - but look at all those blooms! I love these plants.

I think this is the last veronica in the garden still blooming.

Brown-eyed Susans are still going strong.

A tuberous begonia. These finally started blooming last week - way too long to wait for container plants!! I had some red and some yellow that did quite well this year, but the rest were only so-so. I may decide to not do these next year...

The white "David" phlox is still looking very pretty. Some of the other phlox have blooms, but they're coming to the end.

The Japanese anemone are still looking good.

Another shot - I just love these airy little blooms.

I just took some under-performing begonias out of a hanging planter by the streetside door, and put in these pansies. (And then the temps jumped into the 80's for a couple days - of course!!) I absolutely love this color.

odds 'n ends on a rainy day

"Rosy Returns" - repeat blooming daylily

Isn't this a beautiful daylily? I just planted it this spring, so not sure if it will always bloom late. I'm thinking I need to add more late bloomers, so hope it will. It's a smaller daylily bloom, but a lovely rich color.

Japanese fall blooming anemone

Japanese anemone again

I love Japanese anemone. They aren't real showy from a distance, but up close they are very pretty. I love the way they nod in the breeze. I have them in a couple gardens - in light shade and in almost full sun. They seem to be okay everywhere I try them.

dahlia

A couple more of my smaller dahlias. The colors have been so rich this summer - I love them! The dinnerplates are definitely more showy, but I'm hoping I can overwinter the tubers and have them all again next year. I do have to remember to stake them as I plant them though. This year the ones in partial shade are pretty much laying on the ground.

dahlia

Turtlehead

Turtlehead is another fall bloomer that I love. The plants get very large and the blooms aren't super showy until you get right up to the plant. But they are so cute! And it keeps blooming for quite a long time. When I first bought turtlehead, it was for a shady space. But mine does much, much better in full sun as long as the ground is moist.

Brown-eyed Susans

And what late-summer/fall post would be complete without brown-eyed susans? I used to think these were too "gold" for my gardens. But now I rely on them to add bright spots throughout my late summer gardens. I can't think of any flowers I don't like, but I do have a soft spot for the prairie-type flowers.

We have had a cool, rainy weekend here. No complaints - we desperately needed the rain. But I do hope it plans to warm up again, so we get more tomatoes. I roasted and froze several batches, but not nearly enough to last the winter!

I did have blooms today

When I went out to take photos today, the camera battery was really low. I just managed to get these - most that I took were totally out of focus. So I'll have to try again tomorrow. But there are so many things popping into bloom and looking more beautiful every day, I just couldn't skip sharing today!

The first photo is of Purissima - it will turn totally white as it ages. I've had these tulips forever, and I don't think the clump looks very fresh anymore. I'm not sure if that's because of age or because of the late freezes this spring - or maybe both. But I love all of my tulips - old and new - so I hate to see them not produce as well as they get older.

This is a really pretty clump of coral bells - I'm not sure anymore which it is. I'm thinking it gets white flowers when it blooms. If I would just plant something and let it sit forever in the same place, I would know the names. But I have to keep moving things around from garden to garden, and I just can't keep up with it all!

This is another shot of Toronto - what a great color this is turning out to be. I'm surprised that so many of my early tulips seem to be shades of orangey-red. In the photos I think they kind of all look like the same color. In the garden there are lovely subtle differences in color and leaf and shape.

This is Mount Hood or Thalia - I don't think I'll know for sure until I see the other one blooming. But I'm thinking Thalia is a late bloomer - so good possibility this is Mount Hood. Whatever, I think it's very pretty.

This is a species tulip that just opened today. Tried to get a shot of the clump, because very pretty with 8 or so blooming. But camera did not cooperate. This is a shot of the inside - kind of cool.

This isn't a great shot - but finally got a white anemone to go with my blue ones. They're scattered all over several gardens - and only a few even coming up and blooming. If they increase over the next few years, they'll be great. This year they just look kind of silly!





This is the first lungwort to bloom this year. I love these little guys. The foliage is so cool - and the blooms change from pink to blue or blue to pink. I think they're so fun. Hopefully, sometime while they're blooming I can get a good close-up shot of the flower. (darn camera!) I have several different kinds - and, of course, they've all been moved so many times, I don't know which is which anymore.



Here's my Delft Blue hyacinth. The garden smells so wonderful! This is a really nice hyacinth - full bloom and great color. I can't wait to see the yellow ones (if any of them even show up!).

Here is an older hyacinth - the color is kind of pretty - very bright. But it sure looks skimpy compared to Delft Blue. Still smells good though!

new blooms

Isn't this little blue anemone cute?? I ordered blue and white anemone when we were at the Keukenhof. When they came last fall, I planted them in several places throughout the garden - I think I ordered packs of 25 of each color. Over the winter, I was at the Breck's website and looked at their anemone - zone 6!!!!! Oh-oh. So I wasn't really counting on them making it - but there are several coming up. So fun.







These are the tulips by the side door - the one where I planted 10 bulbs - 10 came up last year. And then this year... well, actually two so twice as good as I was predicting. I didn't get the pansies planted, so they're just hanging by themselves. Kind of cute little blooms - and the foliage is burgundy striped, so that's cool. But next fall I have to remember to get some other bulbs planted here.

Here are my new hyacinths in bloom - I think the yellow must be a little later because all I have so far are the blue. The name was Delft Blue - they smell wonderful, of course, and are very pretty.

This is another species tulip - very, very tiny - the leaves are similar in size to scilla leaves. I think these are adorable. Several up, but only a couple in bloom so far. They take a beating - they're planted along the fence, so whenever the dogs have to check out what the neighbors are doing they run right over these. But I guess they can hold their own! This is the second year for these guys.

And look how much the rhubarb is growing. The temps have been great here - looks like we'll get some rain today and we really could use it. I expect lots of things to just pop - grow several inches - after it rains. We put the lake pump in yesterday, but I'm glad I won't have to use it right away. Lake water is great, but nothing beats real rain.

And I leave you with my pontoon. It's a beater boat - 20 feet long, basic interior. I wanted something the dogs and I could take out when Mark is traveling. Something so they could get out of the sun, and I could easily get back to the dock. This is perfect. Last summer it was used several times for an afternoon with girlfriends, sisters, and neighbors - a day of food and drink, floating on the water, and lots of gabbing. It might not look like much, but it is FUN!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATTI! A day late - but I hope you were camping and horseback riding all weekend, and won't get a chance to check this until tonight anyway!