Fall Garden Images

Overall this year, we have had quite a moist summer...

And 4 years into planting this garden (or as I refer to it - the nursery garden)

I'm quite happy with the results...

I'm hoping that I can spend some time this week in amongst the expected showers (surprise... more rain!) transplanting and dividing up some of the plants into other areas around the house and sharing with passing by neighbors...

So here are some quick pictures of what my garden has in it now as we have hit Mid-September...

A wood and twine sculpture that my nephew Dylan and I made on Labor Day.

Pretty cool for a small fall garden sculpture - fits the fall and halloween mood I think...

Some of the Poppy Seed Heads collected.

They were my first this year, after years of trying to grow them...

Thanks Grandma for the seed packet from your kitchen drawer...

Magic seeds those were...

A toad visiting the garden - lots of toads around here...

And a Swallowtail Caterpillar munching on the end of the Cilantro...

Hailey (one of the neighborhood girls that plays with Chloe on a regular basis) found this one...

I was able to show them, when gently poked at, the caterpillar raises it's head, and fleshy "horns" emerge and an odor can be smelled (defense mechanism).

The kids of course loved that and thought it smelled like fruity cereal...

These Toad Lillies were planted last year, but I don't really remember a good bloom like this year... Now these I can get into - Wonderful!!!

The St. John's Wort is still blooming and growing...

It has become a nice focal to some different areas around the house, and I think I've even spotted some new plants from this one around the patio area. If it didn't get so large, I would leave it, but that little one will have to be transplanted because I prefer the moss to plants in amongst the flagstone...

This lovely Spider Wort also keeps putting off random blooms.

I enjoy that this plant is maybe a foot tall, and has been enjoyed all season!

I have some taller ones as well with a dark pink bloom that are over 2' tall, and they took a beating and never really recovered from some of the storms we had this summer. So I think they will be part of the plants that get divided and moved this week to a better location for them.

This is a picture of some Iron weed, some ornamental grass, and I am totally drawing a blank on the purple/blue blooming plant. The Iron Weed this year hasn't bloomed much because of the deer deadheading it. Just like the sunflowers I planted... But you know, I don't mind too much...

Off of the same plant, this Hydrangea at the front of the house gets a variety of bloom colors. Blue as you can see above...

And this light pink/green/ivory color. All nice and big...

Hydrangeas were one of my mom's favorite plants in her garden...

I carried them in my bridal bouquet for my wedding...

Love these through and through...

And these Sedum are in a bit of a shady spot, so they haven't bloomed as early as expected.

We are just starting to get some of the darker pinks showing up.

I think I will divide these too this week and put some in and around the garden on the big hill.

I'm not quite sure why I haven't done that yet.

Guess it just shows that growing a garden and also having two children in the middle of it all, puts some priorities into one's life. Which is why I refer to my garden right now as the nursery. I am growing as many plants and dividing them to get more and this year, collecting seeds, so that in the next few years, I can move into the adolescent garden.

So far Chloe (21 months old) loves being in the garden. Her little brother Riley (due Jan 2010) will hopefully feel the same... Can't see how he won't...

Thanks for stopping by my garden blog for a bit!

http://www.MarshasGardenBlog.Blogspot.com

(for those of you viewing it through FaceBook)

Hope you are enjoying your garden a little every day...

Some Calming Images...

Today seems like the kind of day for some nature pictures that are somewhat refreshing and calming...

These were taken from the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, DE in June 2008.

Just from a little point and click digital, nothing fancy (yet...)

It was a breezy and a little chilly that weekend (Father's Day Weekend) I believe...

A bit stormy off and on all weekend really...

And speaking of the beach on a weekend...

My good friend Jennie Davies-Reazor is going to be selling some of her cool artwork in Bethany Beach this weekend at their art festival.

Make sure to swing by if you are in the area or are looking for a fun day trip on Saturday (that's tomorrow)!

And to get you all ready for fall...

I came across this picture last night...

A pumpkin I carved last halloween with some of my drawings on it...

We make an event out of pumpkin carving in this house!!!

And often bring in extended family members to have fun and carve theirs too...

Will have to dig up some other pumpkin pictures from years past...

Hope all is well...

Farewell August - Hello Fall...

Chloe and I spend a lot of time outdoors in the mornings before school and after school before dinner...

Sometimes it's just playing with the kids around the neighborhood...

Sometimes just us...

Here she is with some really cool twisty small branches I found when we first moved into the house and I started to clear the overgrowth...

They grew like this because they were being strangled by vines...

And some of the last flowers blooming in the garden...

And now it's seed collecting time...

And time to really see insects like this Katydid...

Then before you know it, all will be brown and dormant again...

Just in time for Halloween!!!

Days of Cooler Weather...

Dave and I were just talking tonight about how much we love living in a place that has all four seasons...

Really, we have our extremes here, but the constant change is so nice...

Keeps things interesting to say the least...

So here are some pics from this last year from early winter into spring....

Just to get you ready for the cooler weather as we are getting ready to enter into September...

Love seeing twilight...

Especially with naked trees on the horizon...

And those naked trees against a winter sky...

The silence of the winter woods...

Love hearing the whistling wind...

The rustling dead leaves being blown about...

And the lonesome bird calls...

This poor blue jay...

Didn't make it after this meeting with the window...

Kept some feathers though...

Such a shame...

We moved the feeders to keep them farther from the house and windows...

A cardinal's feather in amongst some of the summers plant remains...

Which has become nesting material for the birds this summer...

It's good to not clean up the garden "too" much...

Let nature have her way sometimes...

And a funny picture of a little girl (a cousin from one of the neighborhood kids I think)...

Which blew into our yard (along with a lot of their other stuff that refuses to stay in their garbage can or recycling bin... like homework and school projects - so we know where it comes from...)

Funny because when I picked up the picture, I realized that this girl was in a bathroom next to a toilet...

A small twig that has been embraced by a vine over the growing season...

Both lifeless now, but oh, how interesting...

And let's not forget the ice storms we have...

As long as you can stay indoors and not have to drive anywhere...

And still have power...

They are quite beautiful - encasing everything in a coating of clear ice until the sun comes out to melt everything...

I love how it crunches when you walk on it (in the grass)...

And let's not forget our Carolina Wren that stays with us year round too...

Have got to keep a constant supply of bird seed out for our little feathered friends...

We love having them around...

Enjoy the rest of your summer and your upcoming fall if you are lucky enough to have one!

August Garden Pictures

My garden is in full bloom...

Some things starting to head towards end of the season

(the poppies are gone, but their seed pods remain - Yay!!!)

Here are some pics I took a couple weeks ago...

(Bead Fest had me a little busy...)

How cool is this flower...

Look at the way the petals uncurl and expose the reproductive parts of the flower...

By far, the Zinneas are this years garden winners in being prolific and many...

I must admit I love the petal texture...

The pollen anthers...

And they way that they grow,

which is from the center out,

in layers...

Some are like little flowers within the flower...

Amazing and delicately beautiful...

And this one - how very strange...

It's like curly - and makes me think...

Hey, I can curl my tongue like that... Can you?

(It's a genetic and tongue muscle thing - some people can and some can't)

And I got a shot of the night bloomers...

Just as dusk fell upon us and Dave had Chloe inside for her bath...

And I had a moment of remembering - get a picture!!!

Oh, and I love how the moss is finally starting to take over the cracks in our flagstone patio...

It's because of the part shade location and all of the humidity this summer...

Next year we may be able to walk barefoot on it without getting little bits of the crush & run beneath our feet (the moss will have covered it)...

Some Cone Flowers before they took an end of the season turn to blotchy pink and brown...

And that's about it for now...

I've got some cool pics from yesterday to post,

but want to not overload the blog with a ton of pics on one post...

Besides, Chloe and I have our Friday play date with little friends and want to head out the door!

Hope you are enjoying the last days of summer!

A Gardener's Fantasy Land

I kept seeing ads in Garden Design Magazine or maybe Fine Gardening for:

Terrain At Styers

I've been wanting to get up there in the last year, and a couple of weeks ago, took Chloe on our Friday outing day...

If I had a million dollars, I know exactly where I would be spending a large portion of it...

This place was amazing!

And check out this indoor fern wall...

I so want one of these in my dream garden addition to my house...

Chloe loves the fountains!

No matter where we go, if there are fountains, she has got to get her fingers into them...

And is usually soaking wet after.

Actually, Longwood Gardens has a new children's garden...

And Chloe is getting big enough now to run around there...

Another outing for Mommy and Chloe?!!!

Thanks for stopping by...

And if you have time to stop by either of these places, they are worth the trip (and are close enough to make a day trip out of both places!)