See?  More marigolds. 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I forgot to show you the beautiful mums that we picked out at Gracie's Nursery.  The orange one is in a 14 inch pot, and the two yellow ones are 12 inch.  That means the opening of the pot is 12 inches;  the crown of the plant is 26 inches across!!!  And I bet there are over 1000 flower buds on each plant.

 

This is one of my favorite things about Autumn:  mums on the front porch.  

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know you have seen these mums when you go past Gracie's Nursery.  They are just starting to show color.  

 

See the truck with the open back door?  That's our truck getting loaded up with 3 great big mums.  That is all we could fit into the back seat.  I didn't think they would enjoy a 10 mile trip home at 45 mph riding in the open bed of the truck.  

 

I love buying mums early in the season.  I can see what color they are going to be, and we have the rest of the fall to enjoy their blooms.  No need to deadhead mums, they bloom profusely without any of the work.  

 

So, my suggestion to you is to go get the biggest ones you can fit into your car, and enjoy them all season long.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

Deadheading:  it's a real thing, and VERY important for some plants, especially annuals.  

 

Your annuals' main goal in life is to make seeds.  And your plants spend most of their energy blooming and then turning those flowers into seeds.   

 

So, even though you have collected enough seeds for next year's garden, it is still important to get the dead flowers off the plants.  Because after all, once we have enough seeds for next year, what we really want is the profusion of pretty flowers.  

 

My favorite flowers this time of year are the marigolds.  Every time I go out to admire the garden, I bend over and pick off as many dead flowers as I can see.  

 

My picture today is what happens shortly after I pick off the dead flowers.  See all the new buds?  In a couple days, they will explode into gorgeous marigolds.  

 

Deadheading seems like a never-ending garden chore, but it is worth it, to get more and more flowers.  

 

BTW:  I have buckets full of deadheads, AKA:  seeds for next  year.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

We were walking the loop the other day, and noticed the Bittersweet on Five Forks Drive has tons of yellow fruits.  

 

The seeds are inside these yellow shells, and when the shells pop open you can see the RED berries.  It won't be long now.

 

And don't worry, you don't need to find this particular vine, Bittersweet grows everywhere!!!  In fact, it takes over weaker trees and shrubs.  Just look around, you'll see some, especially when the berries pop out.  Then, you can see yellow and red all over the vines.  

 

It would be a great fall decoration for the mantel, except I'm not sure how durable they are.  Are the berries going to fall off all over the place?  I've seen bittersweet vines with berries in florist shops, but I think they are probably treated with silicone or something.  

 

Anyway, we just love seeing them in the neighborhood.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

Remember Jeannie Clark?  She is our artist friend.  She painted murals for a living, and she and Richard lived here from 2005 until they moved to Skidaway Island in about 2012.  Anyway, she painted really cool stuff in their house.  There is a deer on the wall in the main floor bedroom, and tropical leaves in the basement.  They are fabulous.  

 

I couldn't help myself when I saw this little metal frog.  So then I went looking for a three-legged stool, and painted it to go with the dresser.  

 

I thought you might like to see a little craftiness today.  

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

 

 

I know you've seen cattails before, but we saw these in Blairsville, in the north Georgia mountains!!!  They love swampy conditions, so it seems odd that they would be here in the mountains.  

 

But we saw them, and Jon parked close by, so I could get out and get a close up picture for you.  There are about 30 in this area.  Beautiful!!!

 

You can see them near the back entrance to Meeks Park, by the kayak and canoe put in area.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

We saw this beautiful Strawberry bush in the park this week, and it made us both smile.  

 

Those bright red seeds just seem to jump out.  In fact, a local common name for this bush is "hearts a-bustin' with love."  Maybe that's what made us smile.  

 

Its botanical name is Euonymus americanus, and is commonly called Strawberry-bush.  It's in the same family as Burning Bush.  Same type fruits, similar leaves, twigs, and stems.  Both bushes glorious in late summer and fall.  

 

I hope you get to see them on your daily walks.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

 

 

I copied this chart from the Farmers Almanac.  They listed the dates and times for the next 5 years!!!  

 

Let's not think about that too much, just start enjoying our beautiful fall weather and gorgeous fall color.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

Have you seen all the mallards at Meeks Park?  It seems like just a couple months ago we were making way for ducklings.  Well, all those ducklings grew up and there are about a million mallards at the park.

 

Hey, Siri.  What is the collective noun for a group of mallards?  Her answer:  A group of ducks is called a raft, team, or paddling.

 

That was fun.  ;)

 

HAPPY END OF SUMMER!!!