When our friends came to visit the other day, they wanted to walk in the garden.  It seems to me that there is nothing there to see, but we did it anyway.  As we walked by the zinnias, I noticed this butterfly just hanging there.  I knew what that meant:  she had just emerged from her cocoon and was warming up enough to fly.  

 

You can't tell from her under wings, but I saw the topside of her wings, and it is a Pipevine swallowtail.  Instead of bright blue like the Black swallowtail, the coloration on the bottom of the hind wings was a dusky turquoise.  Beautiful!!!

 

I hope you will look it up in your butterfly book, or on the internet, and see how pretty she is.  And right here in MY garden.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

 

The tree isn't new;  just new to us.  We just discovered this persimmon tree a few days ago on our loop walk.  

 

The green four-lobed leaves in the picture are from a nearby tulip poplar;  the persimmon leaves are the yellow and brown ones.  There are no persimmons on the ground yet, but they certainly look ripe enough to start falling.  

 

And when they do, we will be happy hikers.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

Don't you just love blue sky pictures?  Me too.  Especially blue skies with autumn colors.

 

It's happening just like it does every year.  First we see a little color, then it seems like nothing's happening.  Then BOOM!!!!  It all happens at once.  It looks like that is what's going on now.  The oaks and the maples are starting to color up.  The hickories are doing it too, and the black gum trees and sourwoods are holding onto their beautiful colors, making our world so pretty!!

 

 

WISH YOU WERE HERE!!!!

 

 

 

See what I mean about the trees changing color from the top down?   This Bradford Pear is purple at the top and still green all the way down.

 

You can also see a lot of green for late October.  I will keep looking...

 

STILL, HAPPY FALL!!!

 

We are starting to see more fall color.  This is our neighbors' beautiful Maple tree.  Isn't it pretty as it changes color from the top down?  I love that. 

 

Usually the third week in October is "leaf-peeper" time, but this year seems a bit slower.  

 

That's ok, one day we will wake up and it will be bright red, yellow, and orange all over.  For now we just have to be patient.

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

Here are the jalapeños, right next to the cherry peppers (probably how they got crossed last year.)  

 

See the red ones?  They are ripe.  When you roast the ripe ones they are called chipotle.  Yep, that's how we get chipotle peppers:  by roasting red jalapeños.  

 

Not that I'm going to eat either one, but I don't mind peeling them once they are roasted, wearing gloves, of course.  And a tiny bit of chipotle gives an interesting flavor to quesadillas and chili.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

Boy, do we have the hot peppers this year.  This is just one plant!!!   It's about 4 feet tall, and covered with red hot peppers.  See the elongated ones?  I think they are a cross between hot cherries, and jalapeño peppers that we grew last year.  I didn't cross them, the bees did it, and then we saved the seeds.  

 

I didn't know it until they started producing both kinds of peppers on the same bush.  Jon says they are really hot, like cherry peppers and jalapeños combined.  I'm not touching them, but I sure love how pretty they are in the garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I went out to the garden to see if anything suffered the 40 degrees overnight.  Actually, nothing looked the worse for wear, except the kale that the baby deer ate.  But it didn't get all of it, just one plant.

 

The Thai basil looks beautiful.  See all that purple?  It is blooming and making seeds.  This plant grows to about 3 feet tall, and is so pretty in the garden.  It would even be nice in your flower bed.  And when you brush against it:  it smells like cinnamon and cloves.  Gorgeous!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

A couple days after the hurricane, there was a lot of moisture in the air, and this is what I saw when I looked out the kitchen window.  The sun was in the east, peeking through the trees, and all that fog.  

 

What a lovely way to start the day.

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

Look how beautiful my Mullein has become.  These are the plants growing in the driveway, where I accidentally dropped some seeds last summer.  Now, don't get me wrong;  I planted plenty of these tiny seeds all over the place, but I don't think I would have put them right here in the driveway.

 

Even still, they are here now, and I love watching them grow.  I love the fuzziness of their leaves, and I can see how somebody might put a few of these leaves in their shoes to keep warm.  I read that fact in several descriptions of mullein.  I also read that the seeds can maintain viability for up to a hundred years.  

 

Mullein grows these great rosettes the first year, and blooms the second year.  So, I guess these will have to stay here until that happens.  We may just have to find another place to park the truck.  I have my priorities, you know.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!