My end of summer jungle

It makes me so happy to see how well some of the plants have survived this year. For the first time I am seeing cone-flowers in bloom and after waiting several years for the "chigger-weed" aka Queen Ann's Lace to bloom, I have both in quantity. The beneficials especially love the Queen Ann's Lace. The Mountain Mint is another favorite and it has really spread. This is also the first year for a long time that I have been able to have the Tithonia grow and bloom. Not all of them survived the deer browsing, but a few did and I think they are lovely. I saw a Monarch this morning on the red zinnias out front and felt happy to see at least one here. None of the tropical milkweed self-sowed this year, but I still have lots of the common milkweed and a few other varieties. The spider plants are self-sown from last year. I hope to always have them now. The Peruvian Four O'Clocks are so large they block the back steps but every year I forget to move some of them. All in all, I just wanted to share my bounty, such as it is. It gives me so much pleasure to watch the insects enjoying something I helped provide for them and even if it's not all neat and pretty, it's my garden and I love it, morning glories, weeds and all!

self sown cleome

Peruvian Four O'Clocks

Tithonia

Queen Anne's Lace

Using Angie's advice

I listen and learn. Some. Angie takes such great pictures of her flowers and especially insects and I so did want to capture some of my own. Not having the camera she does and not knowing how really to use Mike's camera correctly, I
listened to her and managed to come up with a couple of pretty decent pictures.

Sunflower

Zinnia

Inula

I still haven't figured out how to put my words where I want but I'm getting better.

Vacation in the mountains

Still new to all of this but wanted to share some of the pictures from our vacation this year. Here goes.

Us!

Fontana Dam

Next day, we took a ride on the Great 

Smoky Mountain Railroad.

Our entertainment on the ride

That's my sweetie!

Me

The final pictures I wanted to share were from the Little Bit of Heaven cabin where we stayed.

Fire in the rain from the front porch

View from the right side of the porch

View from front porch

View from the left side of the porch

The cabin was really nice but we were disappointed by the "view" we expected and did not get. It was secluded and quiet but unless you visit during the winter, you won't see the mountains and I would never want to drive up or down that one lane driveway to the cabin myself in any weather but especially when it might be icy or snow covered.

September treasures

The year has flown by so quickly. Fall is here already. The deer are in the front yard, almost at the front door now and seem to be trying to add on all the weight they can to sustain them throughout the winter. I have almost accepted that I will have few plants left to enjoy but, fortunately for me, there are still a few thing they haven’t eaten. Mike sprayed the liquid fence for me today in the area they have been turning into Morticia’s garden. I found a few beauties in bloom that I wasn’t expecting and took pictures. I have a goldenrod at the shed I almost pulled out this spring thinking it looked like a weed but I was delighted to see it blooming a couple of weeks ago. The beneficials love it and so do I. The berries on the dogwood have turned red and the squirrel has been bouncing the limbs up and down trying to eat every last one. I just now saw a cardinal on the tree eating berries. I guess there is enough for all. Life is good!

Changing Seasons

Fall is well on the way here and I am so happy to see my wildlife garden is doing what I wanted it to do. For several years I have tried to get Ironweed to grow and bloom here. This year it finally became the plant I have so often admired over the years.

Today September 8 2013 I went outside to look at the wildflower I gathered from the mountains in Shenandoah about three years back. Last year I had a plant and it bloomed and set seed. This year it has spread more than the pokeweed I so detest. The butterflies and bees love it and so do I. The name is verbesina alternifolia or wingstem.

You can see how very tall it grew when you look at the second picture that has the roof of the house in the background. Look at my fig tree! I am going to need a ladder to gather any figs. In the background behind the fig is Daddy’s “tie a yellow ribbon” oak tree. Boy oh boy did it ever get big!

The last three pictures are the garden around back. I finally have a white and red Rose of Sharon in bloom once again. I also saw the aster in bloom behind the Mountain mint. That made me happy. I know it’s a mess, but I am really pleased at this bed even though it needs to be weeded. It won’t be long before it begins to die back, but for now, my wild garden is a delight to me. I don’t like the rabbit or deer eating my favorites, but I am resolved to share some. I don’t seem to have much choice if I want this to be a wildlife sanctuary.

My Escape

Isn’t this a wonderful sight? I am so proud and excited to have this sitting in my driveway and so intimidated by this wonderful new machine. Mike said it’s like driving a big computer and that’s true. There are so many things to learn and it overwhelms me. I don’t know where everything is located and don’t know how to use it all. That’s why I NEED to be driving it but I don’t want anything to happen to it. How am I going to park this beauty where no one will “ding” it when they open their door? How far away from an entrance can I park so that it is safe from uncaring souls? I know I will eventually get over the way I am currently feeling and be able to accept a less than brand new pristine vehicle but for now, I don’t want a speck of dirt or grass or a leaf on the car. It’s still hard to believe. It went so fast. We first contacted Jim Collins at Apple Ford on the 5th, last Monday. I knew what I wanted and he had the car for us by Friday night and we picked it up on Saturday August 10th. Happy, happy, happy!

Another year older,hopefully wiser

My birthday month is almost over. I don't really feel older, but I am hopefully a little bit wiser. I don't suppose I ever considered I would not just age gracefully with no problems. Learning to accept what I can not change is difficult. Spring is trying so hard here but old man winter just doesn't want to let go yet. I was chastised last week by Lisa that I needed to update my blog. She was right. I think Angie just gave up on me for blogging. I can do this! So today, I went outside and took some pictures of some of the things in bloom in my garden. It's 52 currently. It's 10:30 and the sun is shining. Now, all I need to do is figure out how to upload the pictures. I wanted Lisa to see that I do have some hellebores too. I am thinking now I need to get some more. You know, the ones that face upward and outward instead of being so shy and looking downward. They are pretty no matter which direction they face. Lots of plants are peeping through the cold, wet earth and the birds are singing early every morning. I am filled with anticipation of warmer weather and being able to play in the dirt. I am still having difficulty with the deer and,believe it or not Angie, I have begun spraying some of the things I know they are fond of eating. I need to shrink the garden but don't quite know how I am going to do .Once I’m able to figure this out, I will post the pictures. Thanks for trying to help me Angie~