Garden medicine.

I started this post almost 2 weeks ago, and then it sat while life got busy.  I've had a minor medical procedure to deal with since then, luckily nothing serious, but a major inconvenience anyway.  I'll spare the details, but it involves kidney stones and pain.  Glad both seem to be resolved now.   I'm thankful to have such a great husband, parents, sister and friends that helped out tremendously.
Just looking out at the garden (and ignoring the work that needs to be done) has made me feel better, funny how the garden can be so therapeutic in so many different ways.  A few of the days that I was feeling pretty bad I would take a walk around the yard to see what was happening.  But, I was also impressed just how well the garden was doing without me.  In fact the garden did a whole lot without me the past several months.  I guess whether I'm out there or not, the trees will remember to change colors, flowers will bloom and the birds will find plenty to eat other than from the empty feeders.
These pictures are the ones I was going to post and really not much has changed other than the weeds taking advantage of me not being outside.  I'm anxious to have a day to get out and do some fall cleanup.

Black-eyed Susans and Abelias are blooming nicely still.  The birds have been eating the fruits from the Dogwood tree.  I've noticed the Junco's hopping around in this bed too looking for something to eat.

The pears probably need to be picked by now.  We enjoyed about 5 from the Orcas pear tree already, this tree is a later variety (Comice).  This is only their second year in the garden.

Pretty Mums that my parents gave us for our 13th anniversary.  They look perfect on the front porch that the Littlest Gardener and I have been decorating.  She insisted we hang the fake spider webs even though the spiders have plenty of their own all over the yard.

The Nikko Blue Hydrangea always looks the best for the longest.

Hardy fuchsia 'Queen Esther' and the other hardy fucshias all look great right now.  They'll bloom until the first frost.  Hard to believe the first frost probably isn't all that far away.  It usually seems to be in the first week or two of November.

I wish these Sunflowers were mine, but they are from the visit to the pumpkin patch I took with the Littlest Gardener's preschool.  It seems like Sunflowers are blooming beautifully around here now, just wish I would've had some this nice in my garden.

Signs of fall are everywhere now with a big increase in bird visitors being one of the most noticeable.  There has been such a variety of types of them as well in both the front and backyard.  It's not until they start returning that I realize who hasn't been around lately like Nuthatches and Juncos and Flickers.  The birds are one of my favorite things to watch right now.  I love seeing who's at the pond or eating berries from the trees.    Hopefully I'll have a nice clear morning sometime soon to take some pictures of them, they seem to come early in the morning while it's still foggy.
I look forward to trying to catch up with all of you and seeing how your gardens have been changing. 

Getting ready for change.

As much as I love spring and summer I find that I'm looking forward to fall already.  The garden is still looking good and it seems that I'm almost enjoying it more now than I did for a lot of the summer.  The highs have been in the 60's and are predicted to stay there for the week.  We had some rain during the week which gave the garden a good soaking, I've hardly had to water this year which is the exact opposite of last year.  By this time last year the yard was pretty much yellow leaves and dried up sticks, this year it's still green, although some of the flowers in the full sun area didn't like the variation in heat and are on the crispy side.  This summer seemed to come in 3 day increments where it would go from the 60's up to the 90's for a few days and then drop back down again.  An unusual summer for sure.
As I did a little cleanup yesterday in the backyard, I stopped for a while to just sit and "be".

  I'm usually so busy working in the yard or worrying about something that I rarely take the time to just enjoy it at that moment.  I noticed that the light is changing.  Our backyard is shady and with such a cool summer I realized we didn't spend that much time back there, we tended to be in the front yard where it's very sunny.  Now there is a bit more sun during the day when the sun shines from a different angle.  I saw that the squirrels are very busy gathering their seeds and nuts already.  I've barely seen them in our yard all summer and suddenly they are back digging and running off with something in their mouths.  

 We saw at least one new baby fish in the pond.  Even though we find some every year it's still fun discovering a tiny little fish darting out from under the lily pads.  The pads are beginning to yellow, but I saw at least one new flower bud making it's way to the surface.  The fuchsias are having a great year, just loaded with flowers.

 I'm starting to focus on late summer/fall bloomers when I plant shop.  Sweet Pea chose this beauty for the front shady garden that I've been rearranging - Toad Lily (Tricyrtis hirta) 'Empress'.  She sure does have good taste!  I actually even bought my first bulbs as well - Allium 'Purple Sensation', I had such good luck with them this year I knew I wanted more.

As empty as the shed garden still looks I can see that almost all of the plants are doing really well here, aside from a deciduous Azalea that seems to require a lot of extra water.  I'm adding to our house repair/wishlist list "electricity to the new shed".  Probably not something that will happen anytime soon, much more practical things need to be taken care of first ☺, but still I can dream for now.  I'm picturing myself hiding away out there during the late fall or winter starting seeds or something fun like that.

 The pollinators have not slowed down yet, they must not notice any changes coming.  The Skippers are busy and seem to love the Lavender.  I had no idea it would attract these guys when I planted them last year.  I found a butterfly on the Daphne 'Summer Ice' which has not stopped blooming since late Winter, I'd never seen a butterfly on it before. 

I've also noticed an increase in bird activity in the garden.  There always seems to be a lull in visitors mid summer, but not now.  The Chickadees, Nuthatches, Juncos and Hummingbirds have been at feeders, birdbaths and the pond.

 I'm sure hoping the tomatoes are getting ready for a change.  This has not been a good year at all for them.  I'm starting to find quite a few green ones and am crossing my fingers that they eventually turn red.  These are the 'Tigerella' variety that I started from seed.

 With more rain predicted for the next few days I'll be lighting the new pumpkin spice candle and reading through the new garden magazines, all which seem to be filled with pretty fall container ideas.  Time to start planning how I'll change the containers on the deck...