Mid-October gardening thoughts

My garden(s) at home need some attention.  We've had delicious Hakurei turnips the last few evenings, with plenty of arugula and cilantro, too, along with bright red pizza peppers, too.

But helping Woody (our sweet rescue Golden) recover post-knee surgery is a primary focus currently, returning from traveling, while Tim is finishing up fall field work for his second book.

Woody needs to be quiet as he heals (uh, that means that one of us needs to be with him, as he's so averse to being alone!)

Happily, he rested comfortably as I weeded the main vegetable garden here in the Piedmont this afternoon, and attended to the woodland wildflower patch in front of the house.

I had sowed all sorts of greens in our mountain beds, thinking we'd be up there more this fall, but will need to depend on my gardening companion's harvesting, as Woody isn't supposed to do any stairs for at least 6 more weeks.  (We have three levels in our small mountain house).

Tim will be looping through at our mountain house on a long field work trip, so hopefully, he'll be  bringing back more peppers and greens....

Read More

Reflections

I've been reviewing photos (from my trip for a program tomorrow) and it's been amazing to review some of the images from the gardens I visited.

celebrating senescence

Read More

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Street view

(Another post that apparently didn't go).

I'm ending up my trip in this amazingly well-preserved (and famous for it) medieval town. Even with a lot of tourists, fewer now than there would have been in summer, it's fun to visit.

Market place from tower

There's more than enough to see and enjoy here, so I'm spending a couple of days (without driving) before heading back to Frankfurt and home.

View from Rathaus tower

This has been such a great trip, with lots of diversity. I'm looking forward to sorting out pictures and doing a more complete reflection on my experiences seeing gardens big and small, plants in public places, travel in general, etc. after I get back to my desktop.

view of town from wall

Posted with Blogsy

Read More

Heading home and Jakob's Weg

Way sign

Jakob (St. John)

It's been a great trip, and I found it meaningful to end up with a photo of Jakob (who was a pilgrim, and maybe is St. John? That's what the leader of a city tour said today.)

Rothenburg ob de Tauber was a wonderful place to try to experience what it was like (many centuries ago).

I've been on a bit of a pilgrimage myself, so I've connected with the Jakob's Weg.

These paths connect eventually with the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route in Spain.

Posted with Blogsy

Read More

A cloud of Monarchs

Monarch on Helianthus

It's been cloudy and cool the last couple of days, but Friday and Saturday were sunny and mild. 

There were clouds of Monarchs and other butterflies visiting the Buddleia and exuberant Helianthus (Swamp Sunflower) in the border that I see from my study window. (The Helianthus hadn't been cut back this year).

Taking a turn outside with Woody (who's recovering from knee surgery and needs to be kept quiet), I enjoyed the show.

There were over 15 Monarchs (it was hard to count) visiting flowers, along with Gulf Fritillaries and Sulfurs.  Quite nice!

Read More

Attracting Damsels & Dragons

Common green darners (Anax junius) mating and
laying eggs under the water’s surface.

Many people have long been interested in birding and butterfly gardening, but with the availability of new dragonfly & damselfly field guides, more folks are now identifying and pursuing these interesting insects. And with their beautiful coloration and fun names like variable dancer, common green darner, eastern pondhawk, little blue drogonlet, how can anyone resist?  Plus they eat mosquitoes!

Learn how to attract these beautiful predators to your landscape on my latest Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens blog post.

Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt

Read More

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

I'm ending up my trip in this amazingly well-preserved (and famous for it) medieval town. Even with a lot of tourists, fewer now than there would have been in summer, it's fun to visit. I'm spending a couple of days here before heading back to Frankfurt and home.

This has been such a great trip, with lots of diversity. I'm looking forward to sorting out photos and reflecting on my experiences when I get home.

Posted with Blogsy

Read More