Still Bloomin'

With milder than normal temperatures, these few early weeks of Autumn, the Morning Glory vines are still blooming their little hearts out.

This Grandpa Ott variety, returns year after year, without any help from the gardener.
The vines wrap their tendrils around the weathered-wood fence, and grace us with beauty, all summer long.

The flowers are a sumptuous Royal Blue trumpet with a contrasting purple star.
A strikingly beautiful combination.
Not quite the Autumn palette, yet nevertheless, we'll enjoy their presence until the first freeze of the season, and then it's " show-over ".

 

  

All Aboard

My sweet daughter surprised me with a new birdhouse.

 A little bit of 'home' hanging in the tree.

 

I treated myself to a shiny new potting shed light. It gives a  lovely warm glow to the garden, especially at night.

The Morning Glory vines have taken over. The grasshoppers seem to think we planted them just for their enjoyment.

 

We need rain. None in the last two weeks, crops are drying out and lawns are brown and brittle.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend.

Simple Days

The most perfect of Autumnal days.
Sunshine a'plenty, low humidity, and flowers in bloom.

How I'll miss them when they're gone.

A Brief Encounter

We've had spells of wonderful cool evenings.
The kind of weather, that begs you to spend the last few hours of the day, enjoying the outdoors.
The days are noticeably shorter, the flowers are sharing their last blooms, the birds are retiring early to their nests.
Mother Nature's way of slowing down.
The mosquitoes however are in abundance.

Early morning the Morning Glories are in bloom, by evening their brief  life is over.

Morning Surprise

The Morning Glories were planted in the early Summer, and yet despite a show of prolific folliage, sadly NO blooms.

Just when we had decided that the six weeks of drought had taken a toll on them this year, look what we were greeted with this morning...

The vines are bursting with tiny flower heads, and so hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll be once again surrounded in the garden, by a splendid display of Summertime 'blues'....

                      

                          

THE MORNING-GLORY

Was it worth while to paint so fair

Thy every leaf - to vein with faultless art

Each petal, taking the boon light and air

Of summer so to heart?

To bring thy beauty unto perfect flower,

Then, like a passing fragrance or a smile,

Vanish away, beyond recovery's power -

Was it, frail bloom, worth while?

Thy silence answers: "Life was mine!

And I, who pass without regret or grief,

Have cared the more to make my moment fine,

Because it was so brief.

"In its first radiance I have seen

The sun! - why tarry then till comes the night?

I go my way, content that I have been

Part of the morning light!"

~ Florence Earl Coates ( 1850-1927 )

Morning Surprise

The Morning Glory vines are growing at an alarming rate, each morning I've checked, but sadly NO blooms.
Until today......I was greeted by the first beauty !


The vines are bursting with tiny flower heads, and so hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll be once again surrounded in the garden, by a splendid display of Summertime 'blues'....

THE MORNING-GLORY

Was it worth while to paint so fair
Thy every leaf - to vein with faultless art
Each petal, taking the boon light and air
Of summer so to heart?

To bring thy beauty unto perfect flower,
Then, like a passing fragrance or a smile,
Vanish away, beyond recovery's power -
Was it, frail bloom, worth while?

Thy silence answers: "Life was mine!
And I, who pass without regret or grief,
Have cared the more to make my moment fine,
Because it was so brief.

"In its first radiance I have seen
The sun! - why tarry then till comes the night?
I go my way, content that I have been
Part of the morning light!"

~ Florence Earl Coates ( 1850-1927 )

Weaving Their Way

The Morning Glory vines are winding their tendrils along the garden fence, at an alarming rate.
I plant them early in Summer each year, and for the past three years, they've graced us with Heavenly Blue blooms from Mid August until late October.

This year, I've also planted it's cousin the Moonflower.
Together with it's heart-shaped leaf, the vines can grow upwards to 20 feet, with six-inch wide white blossoms, that open from evening to the following midday.
They exude a gorgeous fragrance, and illuminate the night garden beyond belief.

How I'll Miss You When You're Gone

Sixty days and counting, still blooming your little hearts out.

How you've made me smile each morning .....

A Brief Encounter

We've had spells of wonderful cool evenings.
The kind of weather, that begs you to spend the last few hours of the day, enjoying the outdoors.

The days are noticeably shorter, the flowers are sharing their last blooms, the birds are retiring early to their nests.
Mother Nature's way of slowing down.

The mosquitoes however are in abundance.

The Morning Glories say 'hello', and by late afternoon are waving 'farewell'.

Morning Surprise

The Morning Glories were planted in the early Summer, and yet despite a show of prolific folliage, sadly NO blooms.

Just when The First Sergeant and I had decided 'that's our lot' for this year, look what we were greeted with this morning...


The vines are bursting with tiny flower heads, and so hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll be once again surrounded in the garden, by a splendid display of Summertime 'blues'....

THE MORNING-GLORY

Was it worth while to paint so fair

Thy every leaf - to vein with faultless art

Each petal, taking the boon light and air

Of summer so to heart?

To bring thy beauty unto perfect flower,

Then, like a passing fragrance or a smile,

Vanish away, beyond recovery's power -

Was it, frail bloom, worth while?

Thy silence answers: "Life was mine!

And I, who pass without regret or grief,

Have cared the more to make my moment fine,

Because it was so brief.

"In its first radiance I have seen

The sun! - why tarry then till comes the night?

I go my way, content that I have been

Part of the morning light!"

~ Florence Earl Coates ( 1850-1927 )