September Garden Update

It seems almost tragic that the garden is renewing itself with the relief from the extreme heat. We are holding steady at warmer temperatures that really are perfect for plants and with warm rain here and there, everything has been pretty happy thatis not a vegetable, that is. I gave up on harvesting much of anything this year. I did get a pretty good crop of cherry tomatoes this year. Nothing like last year, of course, but I did much better than I expected.

There is one tomato plant which we call the Charlie Brown tomato since it may have three leaves but like the little engine that could it still tries and succeeds in giving us cherry tomatoes. They may be tiny but they are full of flavor!


Our one year wedding anniversary was on September 5th and Patrick's mom sent us money with instructions to get something for the yard with it. We instead chose two things. The first was this gorgeous wrought iron Fleur de Lis to hold up our growing eucalyptis tree and make it feel a bit more regal since it outgrew its previous supports. This stake can probably support the tree for a long time to come.




The second item we chose was a stunning red hibiscus. We have a light purple one already which I planted last year and could not be more pleased with the size and stunning quality in the garden. Here is the new addition being inspected by Bernadette.




Taking a long photo of the newer garden area and you see the new bench addition. My friend Sean has decided to move from a house into an apartment to free him for more world travel in his later years so he offered me this beautiful wood and wrought iron bench which has a gorgeous Iris theme. Eventually I plan to make a stone landing for in front of the bench with some statuaries or such on either side of it. For now I am enjoying how inviting the bench is beconing people to come sit in the garden.


A known treasure... When I was 19 my mother went through this angel and cherub phase where she was buying angel and cherub everything. She bought me this beautiful garden cherub to which I told her I did not have a garden (I was a 19 year old college student who was barely living in an apartment). She told me that I would someday. Oh, if my mother only knew what a gardening monster she created with me! She passed away a year and a half before we bought the house so she has not seen my four years of growth as a person and as a gardener. When we first moved into the house I just set this cherub on a shelf sort of forgetting about it when one day it was nearly glaring at me and I realized my garden cherub has a garden! I add things to my yard all the time with thoughts of my mother but this addition was extra special I think since it was a gift she gave me 15 years ago just knowing that I would grow to have this beautiful outdoor space. Thanks mom, I know part of you is here.




Autumn is coming up fast and the heat of the summer killed off my sweet peas in my front hanging baskets so I replaced them with some stunning pansies and violas which should last well into winter really! With any luck they might even bounce back and reseed themselves for next summer too!


My small sitting area by our shade garden. I cannot thank my friend Heidi enough for the gift of this cute little squirrel feeder. I love how my friends contribute to my yard in so many ways so I have all these beautiful feeders, bells, statues and plants which remind me of those who have gifted them to me.


We had a light we returned at Lowes so Patrick just traded it and used the credit to get me more flagstones and river rock. With it I was able to finish one whole side of the path! Now I just have two more sides to go around the built in boxes completely and also the stone landing for the new park bench in the garden. It really does astound me what a difference these stones make.


The baby chicks are doing great with their adopted mommy Catalina. Both Edwina and Delilah are getting rid of a lot of their down and working up to those thicker feathers for the winter. Catalina continues to grow as a mom and you would never know the chicks are not her by the way she treats them and by the way they follow her around.