Morning Glories at last . . . .

Found myself humming an old Neal Diamond tune “September Morn” as I made the rounds of a morning walk.  The dog days of August are now behind us and the sunlight and temperature are more agreeable.  After watching and watering these vines all summer, they are now finally in bloom with the most amazing blue flowers.  Unfortunately they won’t last, as we typically have our first frost before the middle of the month.  Just maybe we will get to enjoy them a little bit longer this year.  But other wonders await on this walk.

Autumn asters just in time . . . .

This aster is blooming in the vegetable garden just in time for our wedding anniversary.  A direct descendant of our wedding flowers, it somehow grew from seed at the edge of a bed where I had tried to winter over dozens of pots of chrysanthemums and asters. I had hoped to transplant them into the flower beds the following spring and was terribly disappointed to discover everything had died, apparently due to the dry winter.  It seemed like such a waste of all the glorious flowers that we used to decorate our outdoor autumn wedding!  It wasn’t until the following spring that I noticed this little sprig of aster growing up through an opening in the weed barrier in the pathway between garden beds.  In spite of many obstacles, it has survived and bloomed for the past three years and serves as a reminder of a beautiful September day, 2009.

The sage is in bloom . . . .

Sagebrush takes on a golden hue this time of year as it blooms and tries to compete with the Rabbit Brush, which is brilliant yellow.

Beetlejuice . . . .

And then there were tomatoes . . . .

With an abundance of tomatoes, jalapeno and anaheim peppers, it looks like time to make salsa.  Wish there was an easier way to peel, seed and chop all these tomatoes!

Fennel foliage . . . .

The prettiest greens in the garden . . . .

Swiss chard is ready to pick and there is enough for an entire town.  Why did I plant so much?

And more tomatoes . . . .

He loves me, he loves me not . . . .

A fungus amungus . . . .

What an arresting sight!  Pale pink bubbles rising from the damp earth.  We could only guess at what type of plant they might be.

love in a barrel . . . .

A mix of old fashioned flowers turned up some surprises.  Even more surprising was finding this interesting flower, loves-lies-bleeding, in the recent issue of Living magazine.  It was featured in a formal arrangement draped over tall ebonized pedestals in a stairway at Lily Pond, one of Martha Stewart’s many estates.  Hmpph!  Martha has nothing on my whiskey barrels.

A mysterious crater . . . .

These tiny craters are scattered in soft sand along the walking path.  They range in size from 1/4 inch to 1-1/2 inch in diameter and appear in groups of 20-30 within a few feet. What form of life can be drilling these perfectly shaped little holes in the ground?  This will require some research.