“I love the fall. I love it because of the smells that you speak of; and also because things are dying, things that you don’t have to take care of anymore, and the grass stops growing.” ~Mark Van Doren
I wish this quote was true this year, but as you can see my garden is pretty green for the end of October even with highs near 40 and lows in the 30s. And with all the rain we have had-8 inches in 3 days just this week-we are continuing to see things grow.
Now don’t get me wrong….I am very grateful for the rain. We had a significant drought this spring and summer so the rain is needed. Thankfully we are not flooded, and the rain gives me some rest between garden chores. And if it was colder, the rain might turn into that white stuff that I would rather not see yet. We did have a flurry. Of course with the greener garden, I am still able to do some chores. All in all this slow, wet fall is not so bad and not something I am complaining about.
And with this slow fall, we are seeing some interesting critters in nature. Even some monarchs were slow to go after our freeze. We have seen thousands of migrating birds too. More than I can remember. Just this week we saw several flocks of red-winged blackbirds that were made up of thousands of birds. Then we saw them converge as one group numbering at least 100,000. We watched the line of birds like a train moving down the tracks for over 5 minutes, and they just kept coming. They seem to be hanging near the lake across the street, Oneida Lake, which is the largest inland lake in New York.
Of course some flowers won’t hang around when it gets too chilly or wet so I picked many and made vases recently. Here are a few of the remaining cosmos, with our last pole bean harvest.
This multi-colored Knock-Out rose is still blooming, but not the zinnia or Calendula I picked for the vase.
The Hydrangea are also still putting on quite a show with new blooms….
And with the aging fall colored blooms on the same bush. The fall hydrangea colors mixed nicely with the roses.
I was pleased to see my first and only David Austin rose, The Mayflower, still blooming. It is stunning in color, shape and smell.
And speaking of roses…we have a winner!!
Loredana Donovan who blogs at, Blogging Away, is the winner of the Jackson and Perkins, Four Roses Anniversary Rose. Many congrats to you, Loredana!
I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful In A Vase on Monday meme. The pictures shared here were created with my iPod Touch camera and two free apps, Pixlr and Prisma.
I am hoping to have my next blogger interview post ready by next Monday……I hope you will join me!
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