More monarchs

A warm afternoon yesterday saw more monarchs nectaring on the big Buddleia, as they were heading south.

These must be some of the last stragglers (I hope). By the weekend, temperatures look to be seasonally cold, and probably the first frost/freeze -- depending on the the lows.

The first monarchs are expected in Mexico any day now.

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Waterfall magic

My gardening companion just received layouts for his upcoming book about waterfalls and wildflowers.  Woo-hoo- I'm so excited and proud for him (it takes DISCIPLINE and hard work and a lot of time to write books;  many, many hours over days, nights, and weekends, with lots and lots of work, but it's magic to see the manuscript and photos transformed into something wonderful!) 

UNC Press is doing a lovely job, again.

Since I'm the first editor and photo manager, I'm sharing the excitement, too!

Here's a photo from last weekend's excursion -- with a created waterfall.

Bass Pond waterfall

An addition to a waterfall talk!

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More fall views

A morning hike in the mountains of Western North Carolina:

view beyond the field

distant view

reflections on Bass Pond

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Biltmore walled garden

view from terrace

Last Sunday's visit to Biltmore included a visit to the walled garden, as well as a walk up to see the far vista from the terrace.

the creativity with grasses, mums, and Mexican bush sage were nice, and way beyond the usual

the mums were the stars, but the interesting twists with grasses were clever

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Fall light

This is the first full week of clear, crisp sky we've had so far this fall.  The characteristically soft, hazy light of spring and summer blew away, leaving behind dramatically blue skies.

We don't see this kind of blue very often in the southeastern U.S.  Today's walk felt different, almost like I was in an unfamiliar place, even though it was one of my usual routes.

Bass Pond, Biltmore Estate

Yesterday's walk around Bass Pond found the sky reflected in the pond;  I was amazed to see that the camera managed to capture the reflection so clearly.

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An amazing mushroom

I've never seen a mushroom that looked like this before (nor had my gardening companion).

Its markings echo long-ago learnings about selective pressure around moths, and industrial Britain. (They became darker as coal ash polluted the air over a century ago).

Nevertheless, this was an extraordinary-looking mushroom, seen on a outing this morning to Biltmore  -- in the Winter Garden.

mushroom near Japanese maple

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Gardeners know when to "fold"

Gardeners are gamblers

We plant seeds or seedlings and we bet that we'll end up with a bountiful harvest, but it doesn't always happen that way. So when a crop is in distress, we need to yank it out and move on to something else. Case in point: our fall cucumber crop that I talked about last time. We had a pretty good harvest of 20 or so crispy cukes, but the vines got hit with a blight, so it was time to pull them out even though there were small fruits coming along and frost will not come until late December. The vines would not be able to overcome this fungus, and the longer you leave an ailing plant in the garden, the more likely it is to leave tainted soil behind. So I pulled the vines, gathered all the fallen leaves, and put them out with the yard trash. I never put diseased plants in the compost. We have to know when to fold, just like the old gambler...

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
"Know when to walk away and know when to run..."

Even though there were more cukes coming, I ripped them out.

Fall blight...

Eat your seeds!

Eat the seeds!

We enjoyed a lovely acorn squash for dinner the other night and I also prepared the seeds for eating.
Separate from the squash flesh, cook for 10 minutes in about a half an inch of salted water, and then place the seed/saltwater slurry on a cookie sheet to dry. I turn my oven to 300 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn it off, leaving the seeds in the warm oven for an hour. You can also dry the seeds in the hot afternoon sun. Of course, this is also fun to do with pumpkin seeds, which you may have on hand very soon.

Add a little salt to about 1/2 an inch of water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the seeds onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Put in a cold oven, turn the heat to 300 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn off. After an hour, delicious seeds to eat.

Snags are so important for bluebirds and other wildlife.

 

Snags, stumps, and logs

Whenever possible leave this deadwood in your landscape to provide food and shelter for bluebirds and other wildlife.

I covered this in my upcoming book, "The Art of Maintaining a Florida Native Landscape." Marjorie Shropshire, my excellent illustrator, created a lovely drawing to illustrate the concept.

I turned in all the drawings and their captions into University Press of Florida this week. This was the last piece of the puzzle; I'd already turned in the final draft, the color photos and captions, the B&W photos and captions, and a collection of possible cover photos, so now the ball is in their court. Yay!

I hope you are enjoying the excellent gardening weather. Just remember, if you are planting trees or shrubs that this is the beginning of our dry season and extra irrigation will be needed for the best success.

Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt

Sunrise this morning. How can you not love Florida sunrises?

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