Last days of summer.

Over the weekend we had our first fall "system" move through.  This brought much cooler weather, lots of rain and wind.  The rain was appreciated by the garden, but the first few windy days are not appreciated by me.  They bring down all the dead pine needles from the Ponderosa Pine.  It takes many, many days to get them cleaned.  Just when they are mostly swept and raked up, another wind comes through.  Our roof looks as though we have a thatched roof.  Pine needles are my very least favorite thing about the end of summer.  But, once they are sort of cleaned (until the yard waste bin is packed full of them) and untangled from everything, the garden looks good again.

 Sunflowers tall and short are blooming in the front garden.

 Yes, that's a RED tomato!  I started these 'Tigerella' tomatoes last year and none turned red.  I'm so glad that at least one is turning this year.  In a few days my in-laws will be visiting from California, hopefully we'll be eating tomatoes from the garden while they are here.

 We spent a long time yesterday cleaning out the front raised reds, pulling out lettuce and greens that were done and planting more seedlings.  We've got lots of chard, kale, beets and carrots starting.  I sowed lettuce and radishes yesterday.  I still consider this an experimental year, so we'll see how well things do started now.  I do know for sure we need to organize our plantings much better next year, also that we'll plant way fewer tomatoes since they took up a lot of space and haven't produced much.

Oh, and I found what the strange Sunflower is called.  It's 'Sunspot' and supposed to get 18" - 24" tall according to the packet.

 This has got to be the prettiest lettuce I've ever grown.  'Mottistone' has been doing great, no signs of bolting, and I found that the fairies like it too.

 The other raised bed seems to have more warm season veggies growing.  Pattypan, Buternut and Zucchini are all still growing.

 I showed the start of the changes of the driveway bed in a previous post.  I really like how it's turning out.

 From a different angle you can see the new Nandina 'Gulf Stream' on the left and Osmanthus 'Goshiki' on the right.  These two are both evergreen.

 Love the seed heads on this Clematis.

 The shed garden still looks pretty good for this late in the summer.  I've been noticing how much red/burgundy colored foliage  I've been adding in both the front and backyard.

 Fuchsia magellanica is still doing great by the pond.

 One plant I'm very happy with this year is the Bugbane or Actaea.  I've had it in several places and it seems it finally likes it here.  It's close to 5 feet tall and is covered in the best smelling flowers.  The honeybees were all over it.

We are looking forward to my husband's parents coming for a visit.  It looks as if summer is returning for this week and we should be able to enjoy lots of time outside.  Not too long ago I replanted both Dill and Basil for my father-in-law to use when he hopefully makes us Spanakopita.  In March they were here and saw the very beginnings of the garden, and he also helped my husband build the front arbor.  I'm excited for them to see how it all looks now.

 All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

Last Fertilizer Friday of "summer" 2010.

I can't believe a week has already gone by since I last posted.  I've been looking at my garden as I drive away or out the window while I do housework or am on the phone scheduling appointments.  I've barely had a chance to just walk around the garden and enjoy it.  Luckily earlier in the day yesterday I was able to get a couple of planters planted and did a little clean up before the rain started - again.  It's been a frustrating year of gardening around here (click here to read about the actual stats, especially if you live in the PNW).  I was listening to NPR on the radio the other day that has a garden show in the morning.  They were telling the listeners that if this was their first year gardening here not to give up, "you're probably a better gardener than you think you are."
There are lots of garden chores to be done this time of year.  I usually start cutting back some of my perennials now.  I've started on the job of cutting my Clematis group C's down, and have thrown out a tomato plant that is obviously not going to have any tomatoes ripen.  The yard waste bin was quickly filled with pine needles and annuals that were "done".
There isn't really much new blooming, many of the same plants continue to bloom and look pretty.

Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchaud'

Rose of Sharon is attracting lots of hummingbirds.

Geranium 'Rozanne' hasn't stopped blooming all summer.  I just added a new one to the front yard.

I bought this fuchsia many years ago as a container filler, it probably cost 79 cents.  It comes back bigger and better every year, it's now planted in the ground near the deck.

Toad Lily (Tricyrtis) 'Empress' is finally planted.

This could be my favorite rose now.  I've shown this a few times recently but wanted to show how many buds are still coming.  It's a David Austin rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' and just planted this summer.

The buds start out orangey-red then as they age they become more of a lighter apricot color.

Calendula

Bugbane (Is it Actaea or Cimicifuga now?).  It's supposed to keep insects away, but the flowers smell good to me.  The little American Beautyberry is behind it and covered in little green berries that I hope will turn purple soon.

Will I ever see flowers on my Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) 'Golden Delicious?  It's probably an annual here, so I planted it in a container and plan to bring it in over winter.  I love the color of the foliage.

Fertilizer Friday is hosted each week by Tootsie.  Be sure to visit her and see what she and other gardeners have blooming.

The Pond in August.

First I wanted to thank everyone who stopped by to comment on my last post.  We went on a vacation to Southern California about a week ago and the sun and the beach were relaxing and made me excited to get back in the garden again.  I did love seeing the gardens there and was surprised at how many plants I recognized after seeing them on many blogs that I follow.   I took quite a few pictures at the Mission San Juan Capistrano and will share them on another post. 
When we returned home the temperature was up in the 90's so it was a little hot to garden, but while I watered I saw how things were doing and realized that a weed that used to appear in one area of my yard seems to be taking over everywhere.  After doing some research I found that it's called Oxalis corniculata.  My Mom told me to try plain old vinegar on it.  Has anyone tried this?
I also realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the pond this month and thought I share them in this post.

Water Lily 'Charles de Meurville' has it's first bloom of the year!  The water lilies have really been slow this year and I'm beginning to think they may be done for the season already.

The girls were playing behind the pond while I watered.  Sweet Pea made them crowns of ferns and Hosta leaves to wear.

Fuchsia magellanica is blooming like crazy and has spread up towards the waterfall.

Turtlehead (Chelone) is a little past it's prime, but I thought I'd take some pictures anyway.

Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' is still blooming, although the flowers are much smaller.

Hydrangea 'Limelight' was added right before we went away and dried out a bit, but it looks like it'll be fine.

Bugbane (Actaea racemosa) was moved again earlier this year and seems to like it's new spot behind the pond.

This view is similar to the one at the bottom of my blog.  I did a lot changing since then.  The flowers that were here before didn't bloom until the end of summer leaving not much of interest the rest of the year.  I'm hoping the Japanese Blood Grass will keep filling in between the Heucheras.

I'm hoping to get out and do some cleanup on the front yard this weekend and am looking forward to going plant shopping soon.