Snow on snow on snow...

The first snow of the season hit my area today. Not much, and it didn't really stick, but it's snow. Yuck. The garden season is pretty much over:

The flowers that survived the first frost were covered with gritty, dry, snow pellets.







The cats don't like it much. Kira acted surprised:



I'm already looking forward to spring...

Late fall flowers...

I'm not so surprised about the roses lasting this long. The iris is a big surprise, though! I haven't seen an iris in the garden since late June. Where did this one come from? And it's not the first- there was a beautiful purple iris in the garden about a month ago.

Roses and rosebuds...they just keep coming, despite the colder weather and some frost!




A "Julia Child" rose. Normally, they're yellow, but they've turned a bit peach in the fall. Weird.


The surprise iris. With more to come...

Itty Bitty Pumpkin!

Mom had no luck with pumpkins this year. She found this one over the weekend. It's barely an inch long and less than an inch high, but it is a pumpkin...it's so cute!



Not much bigger than the Hershey's Kiss I put next to it.

Getting ready for Spring 2009...

Mom planted tulip, lily, and daffodil bulbs over the weekend. Starting in mid-to-late March, we'll have a bunch a beauties growing!

Some of the bulbs about to be covered in dirt for their winter nap:



I guess the growing season is over. We're getting a first bit of snow tomorrow. Snow mixed with rain...but it's going to be sunny and warm over the weekend. Indian Summer is going to be late this year.

Mom's new toy!

A rain barrel! Sometimes we get so much rain, we want to save some of it. Once it's filled, a hose can be attached to the bottom to water plants.

Still looking somewhat nice!

There are still some flowers growing. I think they will keep coming until the first frost.

The official end of summer approaches...

It's starting to look like fall in the garden. Most of the veggie plants are about done. The tomatoes are still doing somewhat well, though the extra rain from Hanna caused some vine rot. There are still quite a few flowers.

I forgot to post some pictures that I took of some butterflies and the only praying mantis that isn't camera shy...so here they are:

Hello, Hanna.

She's bringing much needed rain, but unwanted wind!




The plants and garden have been a little bit dry.

Fig overload!

I picked about 100 figs this week. Mom made fig preserves:



She ended up with six jars worth. I'm going to try making homemade fig Newtons next time there is a large batch!

More veggies!

Okra! This is an okra flower...



And the ready-to-pick okra!



Okra is one of my mom's favorite vegetables. It's good fried, or in gumbo.

More figs!

Here's a new "baby" fig tree grown from a cutting from the big tree:



A ripe fig still on the branch...



The first figs of the year! There are a bunch on the top of the big tree that no one can reach. When they get too ripe, they fall off the tree and make a mess. We still get more than enough figs to eat, though!

Flutter By, Butterfly!

Mom's butterfly bush attracts all kinds of butterflies!



Our library's summer reading for kids had a bug theme. One of the programs included raising insects such as ladybugs and praying mantis. Mom brought home a bug nursery with baby mantis- over a hundred of them. They were the size of a thumbnail last Friday...they've already tripled in size. They're eating the bad bugs, which is a good thing! I hope they continue to grow and eat...and reproduce!

Most of the flowers are done. There are a few stray lilies and dahlias left, and the roses come and go. There are a lot of sunflowers! These were actually planted this year...though there were so many, there will be seeds scattered all over by birds for next year.

Today's pick!

More and more tomatoes are ripening! And there are still many peppers and cucumbers to harvest, too. I found some Anaheim chilies today. That was a surprise- I thought Mom hadn't planted any!



Both varieties of eggplant are doing well, too. I cooked one of the big eggplants the other night. Mom thought it was delicious. The tomatoes are a bit weak. That might be because they haven't gotten enough sun this summer.

Finally!

Ripe tomatoes!



There were a lot more than these (and better looking, too!)- enough to make some BLT sandwiches! It's been a tough year for tomatoes.

And here is a nice, fat eggplant almost ready to harvest...

The tomatoes are still struggling...

The bugs are getting at them, and most aren't ripe yet. There were a couple of ripe ones this week.



The flower gardens are looking good!



There was a bit of a dry spell last week. Last night, we got a lot of rain.

Figs!

This is the "Fig Tree that Ate Stafford County". It gets bigger and bigger every year. They're really not supposed to get this big...Mom cuts branches off on a regular basis, and replants them. Sometimes they survive and grow into trees themselves!



This is the "Son of Fig Tree that Ate Stafford County". Actually, it's really more like a clone! This came from a cutting that Mom planted a few years ago. It bore fruit after a year.



The figs won't be ripe until mid to late August. Once they're ripe, we'll have more than we can eat. Some get dried, some are made into preserves. When we have parties in August, guests eat them right off of the tree!

Best thing about a garden...

...getting to eat what you've grown. I've made casseroles out of the zucchini and other squash, and gazpacho and Benedictine sandwiches out of the cucumbers! My gazpacho is even better with fresh tomatoes from the garden, but they're not ripe yet. I had to use store tomatoes (on the vine, because of the recent salmonella scare).

Benedictine recipe is here:

http://kiraskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/08/some-older-recipes.html

More baby veggies!

Cucumbers!



A banana pepper. Mom planted many varieties of peppers this year.



Japanese eggplant.



And the first tomatoes of the year! They're starting to ripen. We'll have a lot this year!




So far, Mom seems to be beating the bugs. There is some evidence that they've been eating the leaves of the squash, but Mom has been quick about capturing and killing any bug or eggs she sees. I haven't seen too many this year.

June garden, part two.

More lovelies, this time vegetables. Baby squash, peppers, and an onion flower.

This zucchini is just about ready to eat! One more day or so and it will be perfect.



I'm not sure what variety of squash this is. Probably winter squash.



The first of many, many peppers. Mom almost always grows more than we can eat. They usually get frozen. These are bell peppers. Several varieties of chilies are growing, too.



This is a bloomin' onion- but not the kind they serve at Outback! This is just the blossom on top- the onion underground is nearly ready to harvest. Mom grows red and sweet white onions.

Something I forgot yesterday...

That pretty orange flower is a Dahlia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlias

The pink ones were miniature roses.

Here come the lilies!

The entire back garden is covered with lilies, and they keep coming. There are lilies popping up everywhere in the front and back yards!









And other flowers are blooming, too...