November Garden Surprises

Blooming broccoli in the garden yesterday.  If it had been warmer than 40 degrees, we would have seen bees, too.  At this link, you can see the bees with full broccoli pollen baskets:
http://petunias-garden.blogspot.com/2007/07/bloom-day-july.html

 

There was a little broccoli for the lettuce and chard dinner salad, also.

 

I was surprised to find evidence of a recent poppy blossom.  Our weather changes from dry and warm to cold, then warm and damp, and back to cold seems to have caused some garden confusion.   All of the poppy's siblings bloomed back in May and June; photo below is from May.

On the sweet pea plant, we found sprouting seeds in the seed pods.  I have never successfully sprouted sweet peas.  I placed these in the soil, but I doubt they'll make it until spring.

I found sunflower seeds sprouted in this bird feeder.  Some recent day must have been just right.  The birds and squirrels don't leave seeds there long.  

 

The biggest surprise - it's only November and we have the old tomatoes, peas, beans, and squash plants clean up for the winter. 

 

Compare to this link to the September garden, to see the difference:

http://petunias-garden.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-garden.html

 

 

Signs of Frost?

Congratulations to Matron ( http://veggies-only.blogspot.com/ ) and her 191 pound pumpkin!  They brought home 4th place in the London pumpkin contest on their first try.

Yesterday, I harvested this squash collection, including the Queensland Blue pumpkin from Matron's seeds, and a little broccoli.   Today I picked more pumpkins, scalloped squash, lettuce and a basket of tomatoes. 

It appears the garden was frosty last week while I was away.  It will happen again, so I left only a few green pumpkins that have a little protected by other plants.    

September Evening

The only things better than September days are September evenings.

Today is a good example.

September Days

If I could have done this move to celebrate the beautiful day, I would have.  Actually, this hummingbird was keeping his eye on me as I inspected the roses on the hillside (below). 

I haven't noticed it at this color stage before.  This link shows it in other seasons, and this link with snow.  It's a wild rose that seems quite happy expanding on the hillside.

Then I went to check out the hawthorn tree, now much larger than when we first set up a hillside retreat under it.  (see this link about the hillside retreat.)  It has also sprouted new trees, but it's a good place for a hedgerow.

The hummingbird sat in the top of the tree and chatted at me until I moved on.  I don't know why he is worried.  There are plenty of bugs for everyone.  My visit today wasn't early enough to catch the dew on the spider webs in the tree, like this photo.

On the hillside.

In the garden.

It's a nice time of year to be at home (at least for a little while). 

Borrowed Sunflower

What a week!  I'll start with this sunflower in a friend's community garden in Renton.  I didn't remember my own sunflowers blooming by now, but there have been some (click on the "Sunflowers" label below to see more).   Not this year.  I will visit Renton for a sunflower treatment now and then.  This link has a bouquet with cosmos from this same community garden.

This was the thermometer outside of the barn on Sunday (see the barn here).  I spent that time sorting and clearing out my barn space.   It has been a while since I've planned my outside time to avoid the sun.

Week's Weather Phone Post

The week's weather all on one view. This is a test post from my phone too.

Northwest Moon

The super moon with NW trees and clouds (a few weeks ago).

I will appreciate another dose of blue sky and sunshine tomorrow.

Storm Recovery

We had nice weather today to do some bad weather clean up.  The snow and ice in January did a lot of damage to the trees at our house and along our little road.  

It will take years for the ornamental cherry trees to recover, but we don't think we'll have to remove any of them.  We do have a number of other trees that didn't survive.

To see what they look like in the spring, go to this Link to cherry trees in bloom.

 Meanwhile, the seed catalogs have arrived and Petunia can expect to find a garden and gardener waiting for her summer arrival.

Sunglasses Keeper

DH thinks I won't see his new place in the kitchen to keep his sunglasses.   At least he'll be able to find in them when we head out soon to enjoy this sunny 4th.  Wishing you a sunny day where ever you are too.  

From the November Snow

No, not today. This is to remind me of the Nov 22/23, 2010 weather event. Still had the patio table out, as you can see. I liked the way the snow collected on the chair arms. Hope that's it for the winter, though!

It's Snowtime

Earlier today, the only place accumulating the light snow was the catnip growing behind the garage. Now, however, I see the patio table is collecting it. Hope it isn't too scary by morning.

This is after the wind came through on Monday evening and removed leaves and limbs from trees and panels from greenhouses.

Opening Day of Frost Season

Looked out the window this morning to see frost out on the grass. And in the garden. Guess the trees will really start showing their fall colors now.

Blackberry January

For trimming blackberry thickets, rather than picking them, a nice day in January is just the thing. The green canes are quite noticeable and there isn't so much growth to fight through. I leave some growing, but try to keep them from taking over everything in sight.

In the photo, above, you can see a long green cane going up through the tree, well over my head. These canes can over take tree limbs or shrubs, at what seems like, overnight!

I was happy to find this shrub, above, in an area where we're trying to reduce the blackberry overgrowth. Also encountered a sweet little bird with yellow patches near the eyes.

Unfortunately, there are also some ivy patches. Tackling the ivy will have to move up my priority list!

Blackberries get their revenge, too. I'm stick picking out thorns...

December = Brrrr!

It has been a cold December, but at least also rather dry. Now, it is a little warmer.... and snowing!

This photo is the little bubbler in the small garden pond today. It is still bubbling under the ice dome covering. As long it keeps a little area of water unfrozen, the birds are happy.

Rain Delay

The leaves have been beautiful this year. We had enough on the ground that we thought it was time to collect them and tuck them in for some garden composting.

Finally, we thought Saturday was the day. We put the catchers on the lawn mover and gave it a shot. Unfortunately, they were too wet from the week of rain. The last couple days won't help, either. We'll try again.

Meanwhile, we got in a little garden clean up on Saturday, until we decided it was time to go inside and warm up. I didn't clean up too much, though. There are some birds that like to scavenge around in the garden. There's still plenty of treasures for them to find.

Here is our post about composting in place last year.

What's this?

Rain! Yes, I went out and made sure it was raining in every part of the garden. No pictures. The outside seems to be holding its breath so as to not scare away the rain. Enjoy!

Garden Dish

A few years ago I found this plate at my favorite charity shop. I put it in the garden to water birds or critters who happened to find it (maybe even Petunia). I could tell how much rain was still in the garden by the water in the plate.

In the heat of this summer, though, it frequently dried out. Now I've scooted it under one of the soaker hoses. Based on how it fills up and dries out, it give me perspective on the water situation. I don't know if birds find it, but assorted insects think it is just right.

Think Snowmen

"We are blessed with memories so we may have jolly snowmen dancing in August and sweet roses with winter snow."

And when it is really hot, revisit those December (18 degrees) & January & March snow photos!

Surely, these hot temps will put an end to some of the slugs.

Be safe!

Happy Easter!

Sounds like it will be rain for Easter Sunday. The sun earlier in the week helped produce some blooming trees, but many spring flowers still have some catch-up to do.

I'm really enjoying inside flowers instead! My colleagues surprised me with a work anniversary lunch on Friday and these flowers were part of the treat. So sweet!

Hope you have a sunny day, whether it is inside or outside.
Happy Easter!

March Bloom Day & Creative Weather Writing

Yes! There are some open flowerettes on this tree, under the snow. I checked, though, and none of my prior years' March Bloom Day participants are blooming today, well, except the heather. See 2008, 2007

The camellia is usually one of the first bloomers and I don't find a bud even tempted to open. It must have known this weather was coming. I'll be watching it closely every day now for signs of hope. Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to find links to the other bloom day bloggers.

The garden today.

Weather forecast for the week:

Today: Windy, rain or snow showers
Tomorrow: Rain and snow showers

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, showers

Wednesday: (and here is the new twist on things) Rain at times!

Thursday: Morning showers, partly sunny

How to cope? There is enough likelihood of error that we can still hope for more sun breaks.