Tuesday Blooms & A Bouquet

Oh, Yuck! Phooey!  For Pity Sake! Bummer Man!
 {Do these explanative  date me. LOL!}
What a dreary two days this has been.
Granted we needed the rain that came in but the
cool temperatures in the upper fifties is a reality
check that I did not want to face.
That being the dreaded four letter  word…. FALL !
Yes, I know that here in the northern states
everything comes alive in brilliant colors but  it all
just depresses me because all I can think about
is what comes next. My mind just skips over Fall
and automatically to Winter’s cold and snow, and
short days with long dark hours of no sunshine
where I  freeze my t-hinder off, so that I do not
even enjoy all the splendor of the Fall colors.
I need sunshine and warm temperatures.
I fear there has been some mistake made sixty
some odd years ago and I should have been born
in a warmer climate  or on some island somewhere
and not in cold Ohio.
I know, stop you belly aching Lona and get over it
already and just enjoy each day and the flowers
while you may. Soooo….

The Sweet Autumn clematis is lovely with its
white flowers looking like so much fluff
but my other pretties will be going away until
next summer.

 

but it does not compare to my ‘Silvermoon” clematis.
She was so beautiful this summer.

The new astilbe Delft Lace is getting pretty
Fall foliage, all coppery and fuzzy….

but I will miss my white astilbe blooms and
how they made the blues in the Blue Hill
saliva look even bluer that bloomed this Summer.

 

The Apricot Delight achillea is a lovely Fall color ….

but Richard Nelson achillea with its neon pinks just
perked me up in June.

Sure Queen Charlotte anemone is still loaded with
a mass of blooms…..

but I will miss the Limerock Ruby coreopsis with
its dark red blooms that were new to the garden this summer.
And will they make it through this winter?

 

Burgundy Glow ajuga has grown and still has its lovely
leaves in the shade garden ….

but the little blue blooms of Blue Waterfall campanula
will be gone. Since it has cooled it has given me a couple
more blooms and has really grown since May.

The spindly blue Asters are in bloom and
always seem laying flat to the ground in Fall ….

but do they do not even compare to the Bluebird delphiniums
that bloomed in July.

The coneflowers are dried and only good now for the
birds to enjoy……

but one has to admit they look prettier like this
dressed in pink and glowing in the morning sunlight.

 

The Cosmos Picotee are still blooming since
they got a very late start.

The pink Forever dwarf hydrangea has a pretty
shade of copper for some Fall color in the garden bed…

 

and some of the blooms have came indoors for
a Fall bouquet for a Monthly Garden Bouquet
with Noelle …..

but to me she looked cheerier in her shade of
light pinks that dressed it in June.

All kidding aside they do have a certain beauty
in the Fall but I will miss them in their bright
dresses.
Hopefully they and I will be able to see one another
next Summer and enjoy one another company
on a warm days as I stroll through the garden.

I am  combining today’s posting for two of our
Blogging friends:
Blooming Tuesday with Jean @ Ms Green Thumb and
Noelle @ Ramblings From A Desert Garden for the
September Monthly Garden Bouquet.

Everyone have a wonderful week and enjoy
the garden and flowers while they are here and
still blooming here in the north.

Happy Gardening !!
Lona 

The Last Roses of Summer

The roses have been giving me some final blooms
this week. Seems they wanted to give one last hurrah
before the cold weather comes in and takes them.

“ Almost Black” looks like pure velvet when it
is in bud stage.

Then unfurls to a deep red with dark highlights
around the petals.

The new “Iceberg” rose that was planted this spring
has been blooming better than my Knockout roses
this summer.

Since I love white blooms in the garden I have
been in love with this rose this summer.

“Easy Does It” is another new rose planted this
summer and it has been non stop in blooming also.

I am not a favorite of the colors of orange in flowers
but Easy Does It has so many shades to the petals
that it has really grown on me. She looks pretty with
a few water drops from a watering. Looks like she has
company on one of the petals.

“Crimson Bouquet” is my favorite of the red
roses. It blooms in waves throughout the summer
and it smells divine. She has a few chewed leaves
now.

I have had the Crimson Bouquet rose for years and
it is very hardy and has never failed me yet.

Gertrude Jekyll is also a new rose and I love how it
has produced waves of blooms this summer.

I love how Gertrude’s petals keep unfolding from the
tight buds into a full bloom of many petals.

Even the climbing rose “New Dawn” has graced me with
a few new blooms.

New Dawn usually only blooms once for me so
it is having a finale bloom to say goodbye to summer.

As I mentioned my Knockout roses have been a
very big disappointment this summer.

With exception to this Rainbow Knockout which has
bloomed very well.
The new Sunny Yellow knockout only bloomed twice
and the red and pink singles and double Knockouts
shrubs have just had a few blooms in all.

Along with the roses having one last blooming
event this lone Shasta Daisy came out to say
goodbye for the summer.

Today is also “Fertilizer Friday” at Tootsie’s
so join us in Flaunting the last Flowers of
this summer.
Fall is really here now although we have had days in
the nineties this week but a big change is on the
agenda tonight. We so need the rain that I am hoping
this cold front will bring in.

The Last Rose of Summer

'Tis the last rose of summer, left blooming all alone
All her lovely companions are faded and gone.
No flower of her kindred, no rose bud is nigh
To reflect back her blushes and give sigh for sigh.
I'll not leave thee, thou lone one! to pine on the stem
Since the lovely are sleeping, go sleep thou with them
'Thus kindly I scatter thy leaves o'er the bed
Where thy mates of the garden lie scentless and dead.

 ~Thomas Moore~

Happy Gardening Everyone !

Lona

How To Survive A Garden Gnome Attack

This summer I was contacted by Chuck Sambuchino
a Ohio resident to review a humorous book he had written
entitled “How To Survive A Garden Gnome Attack’.

Upon receiving the book and reading the introduction
and a thumb through to look at the pictures two things became
apparent:
1) My household and garden was already infested and
we were vulnerable to an attack at any moment, and…

2) I could have really used this book before our garden
blog group had sent Bilbo the Traveling Garden Gnome
to my home for a visit in May.

 

When Chuck’s introduction to the book stated,
”Call them what you want, Garden Gnomes, Lawn Ornaments,
Little Evil outdoor statuary hell-bent on world domination. It doesn’t matter.What does matter is that, right now, they’re hiding in plain sight, pretending to be symbols of merriment and good will. But secretly, quietly, while pushing diminutive wheelbarrows and brandishing miniature flower pots, they’re planning home invasions all over the world”, I started to shake in my shoes.



Photography by Andrew Parsons

The books photographs of what could be happening behind
the scenes made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Who can forget what a time I had with Bilbo last May?
If you have not read the accounts of this rambunctious
Traveling Garden Gnome, Bilbo, on his visit here to the
Hocking Hills Garden you can go back and read the
saga’s below.

Bilbo Arrives in the Hocking Hills Garden
His arrival from the snowy garden of Tootsie’s in Canada:

Bilbo Tours the Parks
His tour of the Hocking Hills Park system:

Bilbo Gets Back to Gardening
And how I thought I had gotten Bilbo back on track:

Although I was under the assumption that I had tamed
Bilbo maybe it was all just an act and something more
sinister was taking place behind my back and right
under my nose.
Had Bilbo had a hidden agenda to play nice and have
me fall for that cute little face of his while all the time he was
teaching my garden gnomes how to attack my garden
and my household and eventually get rid of us all in the end?
According to Chuck’s book a plan is underway by all the
Gnomes around the world to take over and we need to be very afraid.
Very, very afraid!

Chuck’s book “How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack”
is a survival guide to help us assess, protect and defend
ourselves against this world wide plot of gnomes against
us all.

Introduction to the book:

Move over zombies and adolescent vampires.
There’s a new threat in town—and it’s only twelve inches tall.
How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack is the only
comprehensive survival guide that will help you prevent,
prepare for, and ward off an imminent home invasion by
the common garden gnome. Once thought of as harmless
yard decorations, evidence is mounting that these smiling
lawn statues are poised and ready to wreck havoc.
The danger is real. And it’s here.
Class 1 gnome-slayer and gnome defense expert Chuck Sambuchino has developed a proven system—Assess, Protect, Defend, Apply—for safeguarding property, possessions, and
loved ones. Strategies include step-by-step instructions for
gnome-proofing the average dwelling, recognizing and
interpreting the signs of a gathering hoard, and—in the event
that a secured perimeter is breached—confronting and
combating the attackers at close range.

 

The book can be purchased at Random House.

Or on sale at Amazon.

Are they even now infiltrating your home???

Photography by Andrew Parsons

I want to thank Chuck for writing this delightful and eye
opening book. With his help we all will be made aware,
be on guard and have a good laugh in the process.
With chapters such as:
Are You At Risk?, Are you in Denial?, Their Arsenal,
Mortal Combat and Gnomeproofing, the book runs
from ridiculous, (but in a good way), to just a fun read.
A little on the dark side are we there Chuck? LOL!
Also Chuck is in a quandary because as he states it,
”For whatever reason, law enforcement personnel have
never taken reports of gnome attacks seriously.”

and that we may be …

“Highly irresponsible to simply ditch Bilbo the
Traveling Gnome or any other Gnome with a new owner
who’s unaware of the danger.”

So with these phrases ringing in your ears ……

Happy Gardening Everyone !! ….

and Be Very Careful Around
Your Own GardeningGnomes !!!

Lona H

 

Backwoods Festival 2010

 
This weekend is the Backwoods Festival in Thornville,
Ohio. My daughter and I attended to  look at all of the
wonderful crafts that can be found there.
This was our third year attending the Festival and we
were not disappointed. We came home with a few goodies
in bags. I usually  pick up some Indian corn for decorating.

They tell me if you cut or score the skin of the pumpkin by
scratching a name or message, etc. into it, that
when it heals it scars over and the message grows with
the pumpkin.

There were so many Mums for sale there but we had our
arms filled and the car was way down in the field somewhere
and our arms were full.
We have to memorize a landmark near the location we park
to find our way pack to the car when we go somewhere. LOL!
And those keys that make the lights flash and the horns honk
to help you find your car are life savers. LOL!

Re-enactors are dressed in period clothing in one section
of the festival.I have decided I would never have made
it as a pioneer woman. My family is glad also because
cooking over an open fire would have meant starvation for
them not to mention most likely burning the house down.

New this year was the Tin Man in the picture.

I did not run into Toto, Dorothy or the friendly
old lion but….

the Scarecrow was there to point the way into the crafting
area. I would have liked to bring him home and stand him
in front of the garage for Fall decorating. LOL!

 

I could not pass up these little stacking boxes at one
of the booths.

Meanwhile back at the house the only Fall decorating
that I have done is put out a few things on the bookcase.
Those three tiny orange pumpkins came from my big
pumpkin patch before the vines died. LOL!
No wheel borrow needed to bring them to the house.

I found this quote just for Balisha and myself…

 

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. 
So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.
-  Nathaniel Hawthorne -

And back in my garden the Cosmos Picotee are finally opening
and are the only new blooms in the beds right now.

After finally getting some cosmos to grow for me I am just
excited to have them, even if they are a little late
in blooming.

The pelargonium's  are still giving me some color.
This is Red Ice geranium.

The Torenia or Wishbone flowers are still blooming
in the shady garden bed beside the house.

 

A small half priced Pink Lady hellebore was planted
this week.

The Forever Dwarf Pink hydrangea blooms are changing
to Fall colors. They went from pink to green and now
are rusty orange colored.

The phlox blooms are fading fast now.

This Red Spotted Purple butterfly posed just long
enough for me to get one picture.
Apparently the smell of Deer repellant does not
bother it or did it. LOL!

While my daughter and I were on our walk Wednesday
afternoon I spotted these berries and Fall leaves on a bush.
A sign of what is to come I am afraid.

Everyone Have a Great Weekend !!
@ Happy Gardening,

Lona    AP