Falling Into Winter

Last Sunday I was finally able to see the forsythia mess up by the street. It turns out there are really only three bushes, but the one closest to the house has been left unchecked to grow wild. There were branches all the way to the sidewalk! Even though you are not supposed to prune more than 1/3 off, I figured this thing has grown enough over the years to have enough energy stored so I hacked away! I even got the chainsaw out! Inside that mess was a wild grape vine that was as big as my wrist! Anyhow, it has not been cleaned up well, but it is tamed at least! 

All the plants I couldn't figure out where to put since I didn't really have time to figure out the garden were dug in for the winter until hubby decided he HAD to do certain projects outside and had to move them. If I can't find any of my plants next spring, we'll know why! Now some of them are uncovered and winter is arriving this weekend! I need to get a new bag of mulch. This was the last thing I wanted to do when winter hit! *sigh* 

As for winter, my first seed catalog came in the mail today! Time to dream! What shall I plant next year????

Penn Hills Lawn & Garden Center

We stumbled onto a new place today! Penn Hills Lawn & Garden Center! We were looking for firewood after our regular place told us they were closing up shop the next week and had this measly pile for $90! We said no thanks and ended up at this wonderful store in Penn Hills instead! They're open year round, have lots of indoor gardener's stuff, and some great plants! I couldn't help but buy two sedums from them since they were half price!

I also got an orchid for half off. They even gave me the other one for free, however, it turned out to be covered in scale and was pretty far gone and not worth saving once I got it home. However, I got a nice big free pot out of it! :) I repotted the orchid and it seems to be pretty happy or maybe it thinks it is going to die and is sending out new shoots at the moment. Otherwise, it was going to die in the cold nights outdoors at the nursery!

Garlic is IN!

So the garlic is IN! Hopefully my hubby won't dig them up or squash them accidentally!

Music is planted right next to the grape vine!

Bogatyr is planted to the right of that rock line! 

Falling Into Autumn

I think I have to find a way to incorporate some of these into the garden! 

This weekend is the start of fall so I was feeling festive and picked up a few things! Love these warty pumpkins! I will have to save some seeds!

I added the orange themed pansies to the two urns since my Nasturtiums never really grew. They look nice and festive with the black Petunias! I put the pumpkins by the front doors, but I think I may have to cave to those darn Mums! It just NEEDS something, ya know?! 

An Epiphyllum is in bud! I hope I get to see it bloom! 

Buried my Ostrich fern and one of my Hellebores under the garage staircase. Need to dig a much bigger hole for the other one! 

Peonies, Irises and a Bletilla are buried by the fence, ready for winter as soon as I mulch it!

Tomato Horn Worm

Today I found a tomato horn worm on one of my tomato plants. I have never had these before! It wasn't very big, but big enough to eat some tomatoes! It was probably around 2-2.5" long and about pencil thin. Right after I took this pic, I beheaded the little vermin for eating my tomatoes! GRR!!!

What's Cooking

Well it's kind of hard to see here, but I sunk four plants by the fence to keep them from freezing to death over winter here. Just need to get some mulch to cover them up with! 

I was checking on my watermelon, sweet potatoes and pumpkins and almost touched this dead Mourning Dove! ACK! Not sure what killed it....it still had a worm in its mouth! No signs of injury....maybe a heart attack?

I have another Stapelia bud and it is about to bloom! This one has no name, however, I am thinking this one maybe a gigantea also!

My wee baby watermelon! I won't get to eat any this year as I planted them too late, but glad to see they will grow!

Lone Acorn Squash

Of all the squash I planted this year, this is the only squash I got! I have pumpkin plants growing, but I don't expect to see any pumpkins this year. I planted them really late. 

Blossoms, Tillandsias & Growth

Look at this gigantic squash flower! It's a sugar pumpkin!

Tillandsia albertiana, one of the three air plants I brought back from Seattle.

Tillandsia funkiana

Tillandsia crocata, another one from Seattle. The third one is a xerographica. Hopefully I don't kill this one too as I have killed at least two before this one! 

Corn, Squash & Red, Ripe & Roasted!

My corn is starting to grow!

My collard greens "bush"!

My only squash this year. :( 

Went to Red Ripe & Roasted today after my call and picked up two new bulbs of Musik garlic and one bulb of Bogatyr to try out! It was super spicy raw! Met one of Doug Oster's friends too who wrote a small southern cookbook that I got a signed copy of! Can't wait to plant garlic!

Vacation Goodies & Corpse Flower

On my trip to Seattle this month I picked up a few plant related items! I know, shocking, right? ;) I had been seeing people on my hot pepper group use these grow bags for their plants. Well I found one with a similar idea, except more breatheable (the others were plastic) at my favorite place, Sky Nursery! I thought I would give it a try and got a 5 gallon size. I also picked up seeds of two different types of pumpkins, milkweed and edamame seeds. The edamame and Japanese pumpkin seeds I got at Uwajimaya. I figured they ought to be authentic enough! Can't wait to try these out next year!

My corn is finally flowering!

I forget what types of bean this is...pole bean? Anyhow, they were fresh, tender and delicious in the pot roast I made yesterday!

Amorphophallus titanium in bloom for the first time at Phipps Conservatory! 

Wow!

Wow! Look at the crazy growth my corn had while I was gone for a week! 

My beans too! You can't even tell I have tomatoes!

Those mystery tomatoes ripened up! They are bigger than a cherry tomato, but kinda look like pears or romas! They taste like a cherry tomato though!

Not counting the beans and one missing sweet pepper, this was my harvest after my trip!

My mystery hot pepper sure looks like a habañero! Guess I will be digging this one up to overwinter!

I was surprised to see any ripe blackberries when I got home! The birds didn't eat them all! Boy are they delicious!!!

Blooms & Beans

The beans are getting bigger!

Top dressed with compost. Looks a whole heck of a lot better!

Bulbophyllum bicolor in spike!

Vanda (Neofinetia) falcata 'Shouju' in bloom. 

Rain = Growth!

So my volunteer tomato is growing a bit oblong...?

Forget the type of bean this is, but it is finally blooming! So pretty!

The other beans are flowering too! Beans are growing too! 

Red Currant tomatoes are growing like crazy! The plant is over the stakes already!

Got these row stakes on sale at Target for a little over $3! They were originally $12.99!

These are sprouted! Not sure if it is a pumpkin or watermelon...

The Harvest Has Begun!

Another Patio Tomato harvested! Just got my first ripe Black Prince tomato too!

Had a volunteer tomato sprout in one of my large pots at the old house! Thought I needed that pot so I transplanted it into this smaller pot. Finally moved it to the new house to see what it is! Probably a cherry tomato of some sort as they seem the most prolific! 

I forget where I planted what, but I know I planted watermelon and pumpkin seeds here so we'll just have to wait and see what it is that really sprouted!

Check out our grapes! Not sure what kind they are or when they might be ready. 

Some of my plants that I dug up from the old house. The one that is quite brown is an Itoh Peony that went into shock. I'm hoping it recovers...

I totally forgot to harvest my garlic! Went to the old house, saw them and finally thought to myself "Hey! It's past the 4th of July!" Doh! So I dug them up! Some of the ones in the shade didn't look ready yet. At most, they had only one to two brown leaves. I'll give it another few days.