White(ish) Christmas

November 1

Elephant ears drying out to be stored.

Cleaned up the shed a bit

Frost got the morning glories, and the swing has been scrubbed and watersealed

Mid-October

Fall is in full swing, and I love it! My birthday mum is opening up. It's variety is Spicy Cheryl. I like it so far!
We've not had a drop of rain in October yet. The blue skies have been beautiful, but I'm a little tired of watering!

My camera wasn't working quite right when I took this, but it is the prettiest mum! It was at Farm Fest.

Finally Fall!

For my birthday, my Aunt Connie gave me a gift certificate for a greenhouse that sells beautiful mums and pansies, so Saturday David and I went to pick out some fall flowers. The mums aren't open yet - the greenhouse lady said it was because of the late heat. This one will be orangey. Can't wait to see it!
I love the pansies and violas in these little pots over the red bench.
I love the colors of fall - all the oranges, yellows, reds, and browns. So yummy!

September 4

The hot dry August gave way to record setting rains the first couple days of September. The dusty backyard turned into a muddy yard, but the puddles are gone. Today it is 74 degrees and sunny - perfect September weather.The house got a good power washing yesterday and looks so much better! The north side was pretty green and icky, so we knew it would look better. What we didn't know was how nice the rest would turn out. Apparently it was quite dingy!
I'm still amazed at the transformation of the morning glories. A month ago, I considered just pulling them up as the bare trellis would look better. I'm so glad I didn't! The one that gets the most sun is thick with green leaves and vines, but both have lots of colorful flowers.

Dry August

It has been one hot dry August. But, the Blanket Flowers seem not to mind too much.

The basil is thriving. I need to make and freeze some pesto for the winter.

The hyacinth bean vine requires very little water.

And this guy has been pretty tough.

The fern and hosta bed looks pretty awful compared to this same time last year, but at least it's almost fall!

Morning Glories

The morning glories are recovering! They look amazingly good now, considering what they looked like a couple of weeks ago.

Is It Fall?

It looks a little like fall outside. Yellowing hostas, brown ferns, wilted impatiens. Unfortunately, it's still August. It has been so hot and dry the last few weeks that the flowers and such are really struggling. And I'm struggling to get myself out in the land of mosquitoes and sweat to do anything about it.

The morning glories look fairly awful. They've had a rough year. First it was the Japanese beetles. Then the hot dry weather. Most recently, aphids have threatened to cut their growing season short. They look fairly pitiful, but I think all the bugs have been taken care of. I'm not giving up though - trying them again next year!

Guess that's the news from the garden! If it's going to look like fall, I sure wish it would feel like it!

Morning Glories

At last, the morning glories are blooming. The Japanese beetles didn't destroy them, although they tried.

Leftovers

I wasn't sure what to do with this hosta after I bought it for a dollar. The place it was planted unfortunately ended up in Riley's path when he and the neighbor dog run the fence. So I put it in a pot until I could think of something else. I like the way it turned out when I added a couple of leftover impatiens.

Last Day of Spring 2010

On the last day of spring, two-thousand and ten,

the early evening light dances on the hostas

the new moonflowers from my Aunt Connie find their trellis

and the pansies have retired and have been replaced with heat-loving geranium and lantana.

On the last day of spring, two-thousand and ten, it is 90 degrees at 7:00 p.m.

Sometime in January, I will read this again and have a hard time remember the feeling of 90 degrees.

H2O

I really like planning, choosing, and planting flowers. I get excited in the spring as things begin to peek out from their hiding places in the ground. But the watering? I really don't like the watering. To water everything well, it takes about 30 minutes. Add 15 more when the birdbaths get the attention they need. When it's hot, which in SW MO is pretty much always in the summer, I'm beat red and sweaty by the time I finish. It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. I hope they're not lying.

Reminder to self: Every year, invest in perennials that require little water. Plant fewer annuals. Enjoy outside more. Work a little less.

Hydrangea

This is the best year since we've lived here for hydrangeas.

Front and Center

The impatiens under the tree in front are doing great, thanks to David getting the bed ready for me.
I like this combination much better than last year's, even though it is plain. The caladium has done really well.

A Story of Two Herbs

Cilantro on the top, basil on the bottom.

Basil on the left. The cilantro was doing well in the little pot, but took a turn for the worse after moving to the big pot. I found a little green caterpillar out and wonder if it had been dining on the little green stems and leaves.

Finally - All the Flowers Are Planted!

Remember last year's failed impatiens? I was going to give up this year and not even try. But, David dug up all the roots that gave me fits last year and added dirt for me. So yesterday, when it took a break from raining, I got the new ones in the ground. It was SO easy since I didn't have to contend with all the roots. Thank you David!
I tried saving the caladium bulbs from last year, but they just rotted in the dirt after I planted them. I need to find out what went wrong. Yesterday we bought new caladium and I put it in the basket with more impatiens. I've tried many combinations in this planter, but it gets too much shade for most flowers.
The hosta garden looks extra green and happy with all the rain we've gotten. All the ferns have returned for a repeat performance, and I had enough impatiens to add some here for color. Note to 2011 Erin: ONE flat of impatiens is enough to do under the Amur Maple in front AND to add to the hostas. No need to go crazy.
I love this little happy section of the yard. Last year there were tomatoes here, but I'm throwing in the towel on those. We didn't end up with one single tomato to eat. So, it's becoming a perennial garden with two kinds of coreopsis and one kind (so far) of Blanket Flower. I wish the little fence wasn't necessary, but a puppy keeps planting his giant feet too near the flowers. I'd like to take the red brick out and put in rock instead so that it will match the rest of our yard better.

Welcome Spring!

It was a long winter at the Fremont House, but it seems that spring is here to stay. Thank goodness!This old bench got a fresh coat of red paint. I didn't want it to look fresh and new, so the paint was sloppily and sparingly applied. That turned out to be much easier than trying to paint it well!
For several years, our faucet got progressively worse, spraying out around the edges when it was on. David fixed it a couple times to limp it along, but this year it was done. We were planning to find a plumber to replace it. Much to my surprise, David replaced it last week! He says he's not good at plumbing, but I think he's wonderful! It is so nice to not get soaked when I want to water the plants. Riley is a little disappointed that it no longer drips, but he's happy to drink from the sprayer instead.
At Arts Fest, I bought some flowers to plant where last year's tomatoes lived. The red and yellow ones are blanket flowers and the tag says the color is Arizona Sun. The yellows are coreopsis and the color is Santa Fe Yellow. I thought that was pretty neat since we just got back from those places. I need to get a few more to add to them and get them in the ground.
Last fall, my aunt Connie gave me some morning glory seeds. They were the first seeds up this year, followed by the basil, then cilantro, and last but not least the hyacinth bean vine. David put up trellises (from last year's tomatoes) for them to climb.