Monday In Bloom

I forgot to grab a screenshot of the weather off my phone, but I did find one from the daily weather record that I keep.  Man oh man was it muggy!  Blech!  I was just dripping after deadheading only a few plants Sunday.  Thankfully, the sun wasn’t beating down on me, too. 

The pansies are all gone now, as are the marigolds.  I went ahead and pulled them all because they were more dead than alive.  We did have a frost warning the other night, and while I don’t think it got down to freezing, it did get too cold for some of the plants.

I don’t think this bodes well for the evergreen nearest our unit.

The polka dot plants got a severe cutting back.  They survived the near-frost but were so gangly and unattractive with their dead branches, so I cut those off.  I think they’ll do well before freezing temps set in.

The side patch is still holding strong.  It got some good rain this past week, and it’s close enough to the building that it gets a bit of “insulation” from the freezing temperatures.  Plus, I think the bricks gather heat from the sun during the day so it stays a bit warmer here. 

I think this pot must be in the perfect spot.  It’s sheltered, not a lot of direct sun, close enough to the edge of the patio to get some rain.  The plants in this one are just thriving, still. 

My adored Dusty Miller and purple Sweet Alyssum combination.  I think I’m trying to drink in as much as I can, because Winter’s coming.  I’m hoping the pictures will give me something to cling to.

I was going to get rid of the mums, because they were so dead.  But when I looked closer, I could see lots of tiny buds underneath the dead blooms on both plants.  So I gave them each a good haircut.  We’ll see what happens – maybe they’ll have another bloom before frost!

The potato vine sure is getting colorful.

The overly friendly Artemisia, still making friends.  It just might make it out of the garden before frost sets in, lol.

The Twins, lavender and sage. 

I don’t know how long I stood there, trying to get a shot of the bees.  I swear, every time I walk outside, there are at least half a dozen bees that I can see flying all around the sage plant, busily buzzing away.  Lots of bumbles and some honey, which is a big YAY! because it means there’s a hive of honey bees around here not too far away.  They are all hustling now, trying to reap the last bits of pollen.  They all seem to really love the sage plant.  I did manage to finally catch one of the bumbles in this picture, he’s near the middle. 

Another bumble! 

This pot – it looks awkward the way the Sweet Alyssum is overflowing down the side, but I love the combination of colors and textures.  You can see Autumn’s fingerprints here. 

I just loved the combination here with the spiky pink and purple flowers together. 

More Autumnal pictures. 

And that’s how my garden is surviving Autumn so far.  How’s your coming along?

cross-posted on my daily blog 

To see all my pictures from the garden this week, you can click either the link or the image below. Thanks for looking! 2016 Garden Weekly 24 | Flickr //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Monday In Bloom

The weather has been lovely.  And by lovely I mean cool nights, temperate days, and low humidity.  Ahhhh!  That’s my kind of weather!  These kinds of days are few and far between in my neck of the suburbs, so I relish them when they arrive.

I pulled up most of the pansies finally.  They just … yeah.  Weak, scraggly, struggling.  So I just put them out of their misery.  I have one pot of them holding on, but not for much longer, I think.  And that’s about all I’ve done in the garden this week.  I’ve been so busy with other things that I just haven’t had much time, or inclination, really.  There isn’t a lot to do except water and deadhead, and God’s been doing a lot of the watering for me so that’s nice.  And as for deadheading, it’s kind of late in the season for that.  Trying to force more blooms this late would be more trouble than it’s worth, in my opinion.

While the sweet alyssum is gearing down, it seems like the globe amaranth are just going gangbusters!  Their bold color is a definite bright spot!

And of course, all the coleus and salvia make my heart so happy.  All that color!

This pot is one of my favorites.  Piles of sweet alyssum with the trailing ivy vine – love it.  Since the rope holding it up broke and it’s been sitting on the outdoor table, I’ve been able to enjoy its awesome fragrance more often.  I’m thinking I may have to re-think which plants go in the hanging pots next year.

Lily.  Still around, much to my happy surprise!  It still has a few more tricks up its sleeve, I think!

My overly friendly Artemisia, lol.  It really is just too soft and feathery to be what anyone could call aggressive.  The leaves are about as substantial as fog.

Love the happy Veronica!

I think of these two as The Twins, even though they’re not the same kind of plant.  And it’s so silly because I don’t think of the ones that are the same as twins.  But they’re both tall, spiky, and purple.  Clearly I have a thing for tall, spiky plants. 

Even though a lot of my garden is dying off and looking less than stellar, there are still some trees around here putting on their Autumn attire, and I thought you might enjoy the promenade.   

That’s how my garden’s growing this week.  How’s yours doing?  Are you doing Autumn prep, getting ready for Winter?

cross-posted on my daily blog 

To see all my pictures from the garden this week, you can click either the link or the image below. Thanks for looking! 2016 Garden Weekly 23 | Flickr //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js