Autumn

The rustle of falling leaves, pumpkins, pansies, all cool season annuals and vegetables, and everything pumpkin spice. Autumn arrived in September. I'm just posting this. Happy Autumn. I thought we should catch up. Haven't posted since August but I've been taking pictures.

Didn't get to eat one strawberry. Next spring a different pot and chicken wire. Hope the impatiens self seed again. On the steps below is a bucket of last season narcissus that I have to replant. Won't remove them again.

Pulled the summer annuals and made a small bouquet for the porch. I have to cut more blooms next season.

I didn't pull my snapdragons because they tolerate some cold. My snapdragon seedlings did well this summer. Looking forward to starting more this winter.

So many berries on the honey suckle this year.

I'm going to take the pink annual inside after doing a thorough cleaning for insects. She's not hardy to our zone and hard to find marguerite daisy in pink.

 

A New Chapter

Hoya and 10 other houseplants all for me. What's the occasion? One of the best days of my life. This post is from mid September but I'm just posting it. I retired from over 40 years of working and also  celebrated my birthday on the same day, yeah is not enough. My present to my self for my birthday were the plants. Hope they live. I'm ecstatic, happy, blessed, and loving my retirement.

Chinese Evergreen

Chinese Evergreens

Stag Horn fern. I had to throw out my last one a few years ago due to scale all over it. They're hard to remove from this type of plant without damaging the leaves.

Another Chinese Evergreen

I was welcomed home from work my last day greeted by family and loads of fresh flowers. These lilies smelled wonderful and lasted for over 2 weeks.

Food and fellowship with family and friends. Sorry for the up side down photo.

 

On the Porch

 

Fall bulbs to be planted. The clear bags are from Dutch Grown. They're so healthy, large, and have no bugs or mold. The other bulbs are from Primex Garden Center and hyacinths from Home Depot. I'll force the hyacinths from Home Depot indoors and 2 bags from Dutch Grown today. I have yellows and blues. This will be the first time I've ever started my bulbs on time. Today only the hyacinths from Dutch Grown and tulips from the other stores.

Alliums will be planted outdoors.

Tulips planted pointed ends up.

Hyacinth Gypsy Queen pointed root down into soil.

Some seeds I saved from the garden. I know they shouldn't be in plastic but they've been drying for weeks. The bag contains tubers I pulled from caladiums and plants of pelargoniums that I'll over winter in my basement for spring.

Two sets of pansies bought at different times have not done well for me which is odd.

I think I'm going to give her a few weeks of darkness inside a box to try to aid in forming blooms. It's done well this summer on the porch.

 

Last years wood. My wood man retired and I'm waiting on another man. If I don't hear from him that's okay. I still have 2 piles from last year and I can buy more as needed. Next season I think I'll order from the farm. I used them once before and they have nice hard woods without insects. Pelargoniums and caladiums below that I put in a paper bag for next season if they survive. Didn't wait for the leaves to die on the caladium or remove them.

The tulips I planted today are the colored labels.

Nine plants need to be treated before I bring them indoors for the winter. Our nights have started to cool into the 50's and some 40's.