On my way to Virginia a few weeks ago, I saw cotton fields in bloom, or is it cotton fields gone to seed?  Anyway, I saw lots of cotton, and vowed to myself to stop on the way home.  So I did.  You can see the sky in the picture, and it was a little rainy that day, but I stopped to get a nice picture to show you.  I love this picture.  

 

You can't see the seeds, but they are there at the base of the cotton boll.  You also can't see the whole field of cotton, but it was beautiful:  it looked like it had recently snowed.  Beautiful!!!  Definitely worth the stop.

 

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

I showed you the peppers while they were still on the bushes a few weeks ago.  They were exploding then.  Well, we were expecting a frost a few nights ago, so I went out and harvested most of the peppers.  And here they are!!!

 

Maybe I should open my own little farmers market.  Or just share them with my neighbors and friends.  That's my real plan.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We went to THE BEST stand at the Farmers' Market in Yorktown.  Look at all these gorgeous vegebles.   I couldn't help myself:  I had to have one of those purple cauliflowers.  I've grown cauliflower in my garden before, but never the purple one.  Maybe I'll get seeds for it next year.  

 

And all those eggplants and zucchinis!!!  It was truly a feast for the eyes.  You know I was happy.  ;)

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I was taking a walk around the pond one morning, and I saw this fabulous hedge of giant holly bushes.  Well, growing up the trunk of this particular holly bush is Poison ivy (my favorite subject for blogs.)  I told you I can spot it 100 yards away at 45 mph, NO, really.  I have an eye for the stuff.  

 

Look in the middle of the picture and you can see poison ivy showing its fall color.  The leaves turn yellow and red, then fall off.  The Urushiol is still there, on the vines, so be careful.  You need to know where it is, especially in your yard, so you don't touch it, even in the winter.  Urushiol is an oil on all surfaces of poison ivy:  leaves, stems, roots, and causes a dermatitis reaction in most people.  Trust me on that, I am an expert at poison ivy related dermatitis.  That's why I want you to be able to identify it, so you can avoid it.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

While we were pruning Elaine's Fatsia, we kept seeing these little frogs.  They were all over the bushes in her garden.  Touch your index finger to your thumb:  that's how big they are.  SO stinkin' cute.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I hope you remembered to fall back an hour to Eastern Standard Time.  

 

This picture has nothing to do with that, but it is a pretty picture, and I love the rainbow.

 

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

This is the patio just below the pot full of parsley.  See the baby parsley coming up in the cracks?  It does the same thing in my garden.  In the second year it goes to seed, and those seeds fall off, and start new baby parsley plants.  

 

Grow parsley;  it's very fun:  it attracts black swallowtail butterflies to your garden, it regrows itself, and it is great in the kitchen.  Win/win/win.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I love this picture.  Linda grows parsley to support her black swallowtail population.  As you can see, they love her parsley.  We are hoping that there is enough for them to eat until they cocoon.  

 

 

FINGERS CROSSED!!!

 

Do you know this plant?  I love it;  it is Fatsia japonica.  It is a very cool landscape plant, as it likes shade and grows slowly.  I think it's interesting too that it was once classified in the genus Aralia which is the same genus as our familiar Devil's Walking Stick.  It looks similar, doesn't it.  The flowers are also similar:  creamy white clusters ripening to dark purple fruit.

 

There is also a sterile cultivar of English ivy crossed with Fatsia, called Fatshedera.  It has smaller leaves and a vining habit.  Another very cool landscape plant.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I was in Manteo this year in June, and my Waterlily friend took this picture. I remember a dear old friend, Tommy Tillett, talking about the sign that read "Manteo to Murphy 563 miles."  There was also one in Murphy that read "Murphy to Manteo 563 miles."  Well, the sign has changed a bit, but you get the drift.  

 

Next time you are on 64 coming back from Chattanooga, or the Ocoee:  after you enter North Carolina, look for the sign.  Manteo 563.  I don't know why this tickles me, but it does.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!