September is here!

I love the fall!

Firebird Dahlias with pink Lavatara

My garden doesn't look nearly as gorgeous now as it did in July and early August, (less blooming going on), but I love the cooler nights and the more pleasant daytime temperatures- At least it's SUPPOSED to be cooler daytime temps.  Unfortunately it has been close to 30C for the last week or so and expected to stay that way for another 4 days without a drop of rain in evidence!

Normally that wouldn't be too much of a terrible problem; more of an inconvenience because of all the extra work to water everything.
This week however, it could be problematic: Sad to say, my mother passed away 2 days ago and we are in the midst of funeral preparations. We are travelling back to Manitoba for 10 days to 2 weeks to honor my mother and get my mother's affairs in order.  I'm afraid that we will come home to mostly dead plants and flowers. :(
We do have someone feeding and looking after our pets, but non-gardeners really can't give the place the same TLC that it normally gets from me who planted, nurtured and love every leaf, stem and blossom.
We have been harvesting green tomatoes galore and composting most of the smaller plants to try and downsize things before we go. The 8 or 9 big plants that are  left will just have to take their chances, I guess. Old Jack Frost is not expected to visit yet, thankfully.  I may still have the chance to dig up some of my beautiful geraniums to bring inside for the winter.

Morden Ruby Rose is blooming again for the 3rd time this summer. :)

Debating about my tall hibiscus tree... I re-potted it yesterday to bring it in the house eventually. It still has mega buds on it, but no one will appreciate its blooms. Do I put it up close to the house under the deck roof where it will be safe from potential frost, but run the risk of drying out? Or leave it on the deck where it may get a sprinkle or two next Tuesday but Jack Frost could have his way with it? What a choice! :(

The Mountain ash trees are full of fat red berries and the leaves on the other shrubs and trees are starting to turn colour. Flocks of geese fly overhead each dawn and dusk practicing their V formations in preparation for a long migratory flight south.  I hope that we will still have some beautiful fall weather to enjoy when we get home again in 2 weeks.

The day lilies outdid them selves this summer with the size and number of blossoms

Late Summer Gardening

Oh, man! I have been neglecting my garden blog this summer! I have been taking photos fairly regularly, but have not always made the time to upload them. I admit, as  well, that my flower beds have not been getting as much attention as they deserve either.

Self seeded sunflowers, tall and stately

Mother Nature has been sporatic in her watering in the last  month and a half. Rainy days have been few which means more work for us keeping the flower beds and vegetable garden watered.

Speaking of vegetable garden, it has been an odd summer veggie-wise. For the first time that I can ever remember, the potatoes did not sprout very reliably. The majority of the potatoe hills did not grow at all in our the first attempt.  Not sure weather the wet weather in May and june caused the potatoes to rot, or if there was an underground rodent at work eating them.  Diligent husband re-planted most of the potato hills and we had a bit better luck with them sprouting, but there don't seem to be a lot of potatoes there under the earth yet.

The carrots, on the other hand have grown the best crop that we have had in years here! The beets are doing well and we enjoyed one feed of small beets so far which I pulled up in order to thin them out. I think we might be ready for another feed of beets now, though.
The swiss chard did well, particularly the 'Bright Lights' bedding plants.

We have harvested 2 small spaghetti squashes so far. There are still a few acorn squashes trying to grow but they seem to be quite slow. Not enough fertilizer maybe...

The tomatoes are doing okay in the veg garden, but not nearly as well as the huge monsters growing in the pots OUTSIDE the greenhouse. The 4 tomato plants inside the greenhouse are starting to ripen some fruit as well, but they are not as large.  The 4 5 pots of tomatoes on the deck are doing very poorly. I think the trees around the deck have grown so much in the last year or two that there is not a lot of direct sunshine on the deck anymore. The Tumbler tomato plant has done really well on the deck, though. We have been harvesting little mini tomatoes for 3 months now. It is a sweet treat to be able to  pick a few tiny red tomatoes to pop into your mouth as you walk by the Tumbler


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