Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

End of the Season

Not too much to write today, but I did want to share these beautiful flowers I brought inside before the frost arrived. I haven't had this many late blooming flowers in previous years, so what a surprise for this year!








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Before the frost

The frost is coming (at 2 a.m. tomorrow, actually) so yesterday afternoon I picked the rest of the pears on the tree. I already have several in a brown bag ripening on my counter from a week and a half ago. Now I have a drawer full in my fridge and a couple that I've handed out to friends along the way. They are large! What a good crop this year!


While I was picking I saw this weird "thing" growing on some of my pear leaves. I was afraid it was a type of fire blight, but after bringing it to my local nursery, I was reassured it was harmless. It's actually a type of fungus. (Just in time for Halloween.) I was told not to compost the leaves.

Mystery fungus.
After work today I'll make the rounds around the yard in covering up plants that need protection from the frost. While I think my mums should be OK, I don't want to take any risks with my Global Warming Autumn Moon mums. They are SO big and the flowers are just about to open! I also picked the last of the tomatoes (lots of green ones) so I'll try to start emptying my planters today, too.

Global Warming mum, Autumn Moon. One of the first flowers to open.

See how large it is!
There's another to match it to the left (not shown).

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Around the garden

I tried to squeeze in as much time as possible in the garden today. I continued my quest for a black walnut free yard and filled two garbage bags full of the nut husks. (As you remember, I can't compost the black walnut parts because it takes so long for the juglone to deactivate.) I also planted the elderberry tree that I purchased about a month ago, as well as a blueberry bush I purchased earlier in the summer.

I spent most of my time, however, watering established and new plantings. We've had a long period of time without a good soaking rain, so everything is starting to look a little parched. The dryness was most noticeable when I was digging a hole for the elderberry tree. The dirt was so dry! I decided to dig the hole, fill it with water, let it drain and then plant the tree. (It's a good practice I should do more often, but it's a corner I'll cut if I'm in a rush.)

It is due to rain in Connecticut on Wednesday this week, followed by much cooler temperatures. There's even a chance for frost on Thursday or Friday. I have been spoiled by the higher than average temperatures and now I feel as if there is no time to plant all the perennials I've purchased.
Check out this cool shadow on the dragonfly today. I took this photo with my iPhone.
I'm surprised he stayed so still for me - but as soon as I was done he flew away.



It's the last night on the tree for many of these Kieffer pears. Looks like the
temperature is finally going to drop this week.

Pretty sure this is Sheffield Pink Chrysanthemum. 
It's blooming like crazy right now.


The elderberry tree is finally in the ground!
I don't usually post photos of myself on the blog, but this one I couldn't resist. My Upstate Ox Heart tomato seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library finally produced fruit. (I think the plants didn't receive enough sunlight in the driveway this year, which is why it took so long. Seems to be a theme this year, hm?) I have four tomatoes that were ready for picking. (And actually three that were attacked by a squirrel or other mischief maker- damn!) They are pretty and worth the wait, I'm sure.


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A new male butterfly!

Good thing the iPhone can take such nice photos in low light when my other gear isn't ready!

Late last night I checked my caterpillars and found this lovely little man waiting for me! I'm not sure when he hatched during the day (or evening), but it was already dark outside when I placed him on this zinnia. I came back out to go to work this morning and found him on the same flower. When I talked to him, he fluttered his wings. So cool! I think the other chrysalis may not hatch until the spring (which is what usually happens this late in the season).  Hope this little guy survives!

The original post on the two caterpillars I found on my carrot tops can be found here.
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Cleanup time and cover crops


Coneflower seeds
I started to hack away at the dead plant material accumulating in the front garden today. First up, the Becky shasta daisies and the bee balm. These stems have been brown for a while now and the cleanup is long overdue. I will, however, leave seed heads of plants like coneflowers in place. I've seen the goldfinches perched on these plants multiple times in the past month picking the tastiest seeds.

One large patch of Becky shasta daisies. Looks like it needs some dividing!

This is a combination of Becky shasta daisies, bee balm and
a butterfly bush. First go around complete!
While I focused on plants that needed cutting back, I also trimmed back one of my butterfly bushes. I've been deadheading them regularly all summer so it would continue to produce more flowers. While I usually trim the butterfly bushes back in the spring, I took off a few branches now to avoid breakage over the winter.

I then made a round through the vegetable garden and removed some plants that looked like it was time to go. This included tomatoes, eggplants (they didn't grow well this year due to lack of light) and beans.

The cover crop of winter rye and hairy vetch is taking off.
The cover crop seeds I purchased from High Mowing Seeds (winter rye and hairy vetch) is doing really well in this year's pea and bean bed (seen above). It also has begun to sprout where the strawberry plot used to be and where I grew some tomatoes and peppers this year.

I've decided to plant a cover crop this year in any available spots in the vegetable garden. This way, the cover crop can add nutrients to the soil when I cut it back in the springtime. It will also keep the soil in place over the winter, as opposed to leaving the bed empty with just dirt. (In the past I used buckwheat as a cover crop in the springtime before I planted my summer vegetables.) Even though I may not grow as many vegetables next year along the driveway (sunlight issues), the added nutrients will aid the soil if it becomes a cutting garden instead.

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Time to move the strawberries

A sampling of the strawberry plants I kept.

A couple of days ago I dug up the (overrun) strawberry bed and thinned out the plants. I kept a combination of 28 new runners and established crowns. I felt really bad about putting the older, extra plants in the compost pile, but there's only so much room and friends I can give them to!

I really like growing my own strawberries, especially since the ones you find at the grocery store are usually sprayed with pesticides. The birds and squirrels really like that I grow strawberries too, which is partially why I am moving them.

The variety I grow is called Cabot, which I purchased through Johnny's a few years back. The yield is usually high, but I think the spot they were in has grown shadier as the years have past. I also just let them do their thing, instead of keeping them in manageable rows, which is why they started to take over with multiple runners.

My only complaint with this variety is that the fruit tastes a little watered-down. I'm not sure if this is due to a lack of sunlight the plants received. I'm planning on moving them to a sunnier location on the other side of my front garden, so hopefully this will solve the problem! If not, time to buy a new variety!


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Tulips, daffodils and irises, oh my!

I spent an hour looking through the Colorblends and Van Engelen spring catalogs tonight in an attempt to narrow down my bulb choices. I've had both catalogs in the house for at least two months, which I would pick up and look at before falling asleep, dog-earring the pages with the flowers that looked the prettiest. I know I am running out of time to order (holy cow, it's now October?) and luckily the bulbs I want to order are still in stock.

This years preliminary list has been narrowed down to the following categories:

To line the new garden path out front:

For the back garden:

Possibly along the driveway:

Beautiful, but not sure where I could plant them:
Sweet Love Daffodil (I already have some of these and love them.)

From a first glance, that doesn't look too bad. Except I'm considering quantities in the 100s to make the impact that much stronger. I don't want a few bulbs here and there (and I already have a good amount of daffodils that return each year, not so much with the tulips). I want someone to drive by my house and slow down their car to see the flowers. Which is why I'm looking at wholesale catalogs so I can get more for my money. 

A very quick sketch of the front garden as I tried to fit
in future bulbs.
But I honestly do have to trim down the list. I've been postponing planting more perennials out front until I get my spring bulbs in the ground.  (The only exception were the daylilies that arrived in the mail from Ryder Country Daylilies, which I ordered online via Facebook, shown in the photo below.) We are also experiencing above average temperatures in Connecticut this week. (Today the bank thermometer read 86 degrees F!) 


So at the rate I'm going, I'm going to spend way too much money on spring bulbs and have a beautiful display this spring. 

Or my friends may stage an intervention about my gardening habits.

"Hello, my name is Jennifer and I like to buy flowers."
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