 |
| Muhly grass |
We're entering October Country, when the seasonal changes become more dramatic in the garden. I named this post after Ray Bradbury's classic "October Country" a collection of sci-fi short stories with a weird, ominous feel... I read it some fifty years ago, but I still remember some of them despite the years! When I first met my husband, a sci-fi fan, he introduced me to his library of favorite books, wanting me to learn about a genre that I'd never seriously considered before.
In my garden, the changes in foliage begin showing up in late summer with the dogwood turning bronze, then gradually red, then the maple 'Autumn Blaze' starts to turn red. Clear cloudless skies dominate while the summer flowers in pots and beds are still hanging on. My front porch baskets look particularly full this year towards the end of the season-- probably the best in years-- just before the first frost cuts them down, such a shame! But to everything there is a season.
 |
| Along the front walk, with dogwood tree. |
 |
| Maple 'Autumn Blaze' |
 |
| Front porch hanging basket |
My thermometer marked 37 degrees yesterday morning, signaling that it's time to start bringing in my tender tropical plants in pots. This is the time for me to get a lot of work done in the garden, fertilizing, mulching, weeding, planting new bulbs, etc. I wish I could afford to hire an extra hand to help, I hardly have time to enjoy fall flowers as the asters and mums begin their display.
The plumes of the Muhly grass begin to unfurl their airy pink flowers, looking lovely in the late afternoon light. The perennial red Salvia is blooming profusely, and the last of the migrating hummingbirds came by a few days ago to sip its nectar. That may be the last hummingbird we'll see this year.
 |
| The path in Herb's bed. |
 |
| The veggie pagoda from the deck |
I finally took down the Blue Lake green beans that had grown to the top of the veggie enclosure, to make room for some lettuce and spinach. Next, I'll be harvesting some of the Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes, as some call them.
I love the little wild aster plant growing along the path. I was amazed to see how many bees and wasps were foraging on the flowers! I managed to capture just a fraction on the action in this shot with a little skipper butterfly and a bumblebee.
 |
| Skipper butterfly and bumblebee on wild asters. |
The Nasturtiums are blooming their heads off in the basket on the back deck, and the other plants back there still look fairly decent considering the late season.
 |
| Nasturtiums |
 |
| Plant stand on the back deck in October |
My variegated black cotton plant never developed much variegation, but my friend's did, and she loaned me hers so I could do a sketch of it in my new botanical sketchbook. Here's a shot of the almost finished sketch.
 |
| Variegated Black Cotton watercolor sketch on Bockingford paper. |
Another sketch, in colored pencils, of a Miniwarts pumpkin.
 |
| Miniwarts pumpkin in colored pencils on Bristol 300 Vellum finish paper, 14" x 11" |
Yesterday our Plein Aire painting group went out to paint at the farm of one of our friends, and this is my sketch from it. This farm is in Rappahannock County, the next county from mine, and the mountain behind is in Shenandoah National Park, where the Bear Wallow Overlook on Skyline Drive is. I'll have to stop and take a look the next time I'm up there, to see if I can spot Donna's farm below.
 |
| Persimmon Springs Farm, plein aire watercolor, 14" x 10" |
I have another colorful pumpkin I bought for painting, but haven't had a chance to start on that one yet. I hope to have some time next week for it. Next week on the 15th will be October Bloom Day--tune in for Bloom Day.
