Still hummingbird visits!

There was still lots of hummingbird activity today on the feeder and the Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage) outside of my study window.  Apparently, I'm not alone, based on this Journey North e-newsletter.The migration is winding down, though, and it won't be long.I enjoyed thinking about plants...

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Final hummingbird visits

A young female hummingbird visited the feeder today. It always feels a bit wistful to say goodbye to them for the year.This is the time, though, that we "normally" see last hummingbirds.  They're cued to photoperiod, apparently, not so much temperatures, in their journey south, so pretty much on...

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Rayless sunflowers, fall seedlings, & more

Rayless sunflower & native bee.When I replaced a 10' x 14' section of lawn with a native garden, I planted several rayless sunflowers (Helianthus radula) as part of the mix. Months later, they are blooming much to the delight of the butterflies and native bees.These flowers are not showy from a...

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Salvia x 'Anthony Parker' and other Salvias

Flowers of Salvia x 'Anthony Parker'Pathway to HCCSalvia elegans & Salvia x 'Anthony Parker'Salvia elegans (Pineapple Sage)It's time for wonderful fall-flowering sages, and all the rain over the summer has resulted in dramatic growth.  Pineapple sage (S. elegans) and a wonderful sage that...

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An early fall compost pile

Some of the new chips had been sitting in the truck for a few days so they'd already started composting. They were steaming hot and had turned gray.Normally I do my major compost building later in the fall when we have lots of dead leaves on hand, but several events occurred this year to speed up the...

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The Eagle has Landed, Fall Gardening, and more...

Fall is the beginning of our best growing season--the cool-weather vegetables. Here in north Florida we normally experience our first frost sometime in late December, but the soil never freezes and we can grow many crops right through the winter. This is why we set up the three planting calendars...

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Amaranth, celosia, and musings about greens

Winter break in the Caribbean last year introduced me to leafy amaranth, a totally delicious cooked green. Red amaranth (from Evergreen Seeds)The woman I bought it from (she had a small garden near our cottage in Dominica) called it spinach, but it's actually Amaranthus viridis, a leafy vegetable...

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