Late Bloomer

Morning glories in October

Late last spring I planted a variety of flowering vines in one of the containers on the west side of my house.  There was morning glory, purple hyacinth bean vine, and sweet peas; all planted from seed.  The sweet peas bloomed early in the summer, and then as it became hot, died off.

Bougainvillea Vine

Night temperatures here are creeping lower and lower; with many nights now in the 40s. Tomorrow night is forecast to get down into the 30s.  So I've been moving the last few plants that I plan to keep over the winter indoors. I don't have enough sunny windows in my house to keep all my plants going over the winter, and there are some painful decisions to make every fall.  Is a certain plant going to do well indoors, is there enough room for it, or do I just leave it out to die in the cold?

Flowers in the Fall

Sweet alyssum

As fall progresses, I find myself really noticing those flowers that are still in bloom.

Ornamental Peppers

"Black Pearl" ornamental peppers

Hummingbird Moths

Last month I saw hummingbird moths in my garden, and researched to find out what they were. They are still visiting my flowers nearly every evening. 

Scraping Project

Every fall as the days get shorter, I spend my evenings scraping away, trying to finish this year's painting project before the weather gets too cold.  As the days get shorter, there's less time to work outdoors.

White roses

Earlier this summer with all of the rain we had, my roses had the worst case of black spot they've ever had. There's been enough sunny weather since then, that the roses are starting to recover.  I continue to spray them, and clean away infected leaves, in the hope of minimizing the disease next year.