September Photos

September is here. School is back in session and I am eagerly anticipating the beginning of autumn. I'm not a fan of the heat, so summer is my least favorite month. I adore autumn! And in Virginia there is lots to do. We will go to a farm and pick pumpkins, we will stomp in the leaves, and we will plant mums. Also, we'll eat a ton of squash, which I adore.

Anyway, in our garden, a few things are starting to hint at the changing season. Our blueberry plant is starting to change the color of its leaves, the beauty berry berries are beginning to turn lavender (they will be dark purple by sometime in October). But the crape myrtle is hanging onto summer as best it can by blooming brightly.

We have yet to discuss in depth what our plans for the fall/winter prep are going to be, but I know they will involve some pretty intense work, so stay tuned.

This month's photos highlight the flowers that are still blooming. I love the variety that we have in our garden and hope that, as our garden matures, we will develop even more variety. Here are our photos for September:

Passion flower (Jo brought this with her when she moved in.)

Our latest addition is a satellite dish that Charles "needed" to be able to watch European soccer.

Wild grape vines that volunteered themselves for the job of covering our fence.

Beauty berries are just starting to turn.

Cherry corner

Our cherry tree is getting big and it needs some work pruning this winter in the hopes of producing fruit next year.

Lilac and butterfly bush corner

Japanese maple corner

Blooming crape myrtle

Fig tree!

Impatiens

Morning glory

Butterfly bush

I don't know what this is called but I like its delicate nature

Daisy

Blooming clover

Morning glory vines hide the compost pile

August Photos

Today is the second of September and I am just getting around to posting August's photos. My legitimate excuse is that I couldn't get my photo stream to update and so I couldn't access the photos on my computer. But I finally sorted that out, so now I'm getting things up and running.

August is a month of wild growth in our garden. There are fewer flowers than in the spring and early summer months, but what our garden lacks in flowers it more than makes up for in foliage. There always comes a point in August when I am out in the garden and have that feeling that if I don't watch my step I will be enveloped by plants and disappear from the map. It feels a little like Little Shop of Horrors.

Sometime in July we had a volunteer plant show up in a pot on our deck. The pot used to sit on my kitchen counter and house a Venus fly trap. But that died and I had never gotten around to planting anything different. When our infamous kitchen remodel began, I didn't have anywhere to put the pot, so I just stuck it out on our deck table and figured I'd deal with it when the kitchen was more manageable. But then, one day, a little succulent sprouted. Since life was still chaotic, I didn't even pay attention to it. And it flourished. The next thing I knew, there were beautiful pink flowers blossoming on it. Where it came from is a bit of a mystery, but it is a delight nonetheless. We named them "LiLi flowers" because Lianna's favorite color is pink. They bloom every morning facing the sun, and die off around mid-afternoon. Almost every day we have at least one and every day Lianna is genuinely impressed that a flower bloomed just for her.

LiLi Flower

And now, to the photos:

Water Lily in our (failed) water garden

Pallet garden

Beauty berry bush

Cherry tree corner

Lilac and Butterfly bush

Back right corner

Crape Myrtle in bloom

Spiral

Crape myrtle blossom

Japanese maple corner

Fig tree

Volunteer squash blossom

Cairn

July Photos (or lack thereof)

Sorry about the lack of July photos. This month has totally gotten away from me. Honestly, I didn't even think about snapping some shots until about the 10th of the month. My excuses are twofold: our blasted kitchen remodel and Johanna's move. 

Johanna moved into our basement last weekend and I am thrilled to have her here. Top on her list is getting our garden under control. We have neglected it a lot in the last month and haven't mown nearly as frequently as we should have. It looks like an untamed jungle out there. 

The grass is almost mid-calf height. It's insane. Also, we have volunteer squash plants that have come up. One is in our compost pile and it looks like it is on steroids simply because it is thriving off of straight compost. The other one came up amongst out strawberry plants and has now grown to such proportions that it has reached up and snagged a branch from our fig tree and is making it's way further up the tree. 

All in all, our garden is a shambles. But in the next week or so Johanna will have it back under control and then I'll get some shots for the beginning of August. Until then I am off to enjoy the first lazy days I have this summer. 

June Photos

On the 1st of June I took photos of the garden, but life has gotten in the way of actually posting them. See, we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel, which is stressful enough, but then, to top things off, the remodel went a little wrong along the way. So, instead of being done by the 15th of June (which was our target date) we are now on the 26th and still in full swing. It has disrupted my life considerably and I have not had much time or energy to dedicate to this blog. However, I haven't neglected all of my duties and I did manage photos. 


June is a beautiful month in Virginia, and one of my favorites when it comes to the garden. All of the lilies start blooming! I adore lilies. (Actually, I once told Charles to never buy me roses because I don't like them much, but if ever he's in doubt, just pick lilies of any variety and I will be happy.) We have day lilies, asian lilies, calla lilies, and others as well. It makes me so extremely happy! 


Additionally, our blackberries are ripening. This year we got smart and netted our black berry "bush" and that has made all the difference in the world. Last year we didn't get to eat a single berry and this year I've picked at least three pints worth already. Yippee!


Other than that, our time has been spent, watering, lying in the hammock (great investment!), playing in the kiddie pool, and even picnicking in the garden. I am so happy with the amount of time we are getting to spend out there this year. 

The kiddos enjoying the hammock

All of the photos of the garden were taken on the 1st of June except for the calla lilies (the purple and white flower), which were taken today, the photo of the blackberry loot, which was taken last week, and the photo of the kids enjoying the hammock, which was also taken today. Without further ado:

St. John's wart blossom

St. John's wart 

Lily!

Beauty berry bush (yikes!)

Cherry tree corner

Asian Lilies (a gift from my son last year)

Lilac/butterfly bush corner

Blackberries beginning to ripen

Spiral

Japanese maple corner (soon to be renamed the Fig corner, because WOW!)

Pallet garden

Blackberry loot!

Calla

Calla lily bush

May Photos

These photos are a few days late, but I have a terrific excuse: my sisters and I went to the beach for the weekend! Jessica (who lives in Phoenix, Arizona) flew in and she, Johanna, and I drove to Lewes, Delaware for a weekend without kids, without husbands, and without distractions. It was lovely. Also, my photos are not all uploading to "the cloud" so they don't appear in my photo stream. Apparently this only applies to any photos I take from the garden. I can't figure out what is going on, so I have had to hook my phone up to my computer. Annoying. And so, I am more than a week late posting photos. However, they were taken on the first of the month.

May is a month of incredible growth in our yard. The wisteria, which is gorgeous, becomes unmanageable. Every time we go outside it reaches out and attacks someone. But, the jungly feel of our garden is also part of the fun. Oh, and later this month our strawberries should be fully ripe. Yummy! Tomorrow I have plans to go out and net the strawberries and the blackberries so that the birds (and rabbits) don't eat them all before we get a chance to.

Also, we put up a butterfly house for the kids to enjoy. We also put up a bat house! I am beyond excited about this, since I have wanted a bat for as long as I can remember. I have distinct memories of trying to convince my mother to buy me a bat. I had some very persuasive points, but she didn't seem to follow my vision. Well, this is one time when my childhood vision is actually a great idea! So we got a bat house and I am now sending out vibes to all the bats of Norther Virginia telling them to come live here!

Finally, we tried our hands at a pallet garden! I have plans of posting all about that sometime soon, but I will include one picture of it for you to enjoy.

Here's our humble garden in May:

Japanese Maple corner

Spiral

Blackberries!

Can you see our gnome?

Cherry tree and bird bath

Wisteria blossom

Strawberries!

Front garden: wisteria takeover

Pallet Garden