What's happening in your late summer garden?

A very slow growing member (unknown) of the Amaryllis family, grows on a stalk. Mine has been in the ground for at least 15 years now and has only just started having pups. But maybe I didn't notice before due to DH's weed whacking ways. Hmmm?

One of the white 4 O'clocks I'm waiting to go to seed, so I can collect them. : - )

One of the petunias that survived my trip to OK.

Pretty pink petunia. Bet ya can't say that 3 x real fast. Okay, I can't. : 0

Masses of 4 O'clocks. Sure are fragrant of an evening. : - )

I had a really hard time getting a good photo of this white petunia. : - )

Look at the pearl in the middle of this petunia!

Plumbago.

Datura, also known as Jimson weed, grows wild around here. Very toxic. Mine are night bloomers. This was taken at twilight, when it had just opened for the night.

Some one said that they are of the same family as Angels Trumpets. Hmmm.
Side view.

Tiny little Senor Chile Pepper made his daily appearance.

An arachnid resident of my gh. I've been trying for days to get this spider out of my path. Then to get a decent photo. Success at last! : - D

Check out this tree frog. Just before I took this photo, he was on a gray colored stone. He sure stands out on the clay pot.

After a couple of minutes the frog in the previous photo hopped to this rock. Notice the change in his color. I swear it is the same frog. After sitting on the clay pot, he camouflaged himself. Til he jumped onto the lighter colored rock!

I transplanted a bunch of those Mother of Thousands outside my gh. I hope they make it through the winter. I've heard that it is going to be very cold this year? Sigh!

Sunflowers gone crazy. Amusing to watch the little house finches hang upside down to eat the seeds. : - )

Outside of the courtyard. Bowervine likes it, and so do the four O'clocks.

Close up of bower vine and seed pod on outside of courtyard.

I forget what these are. Like the same fence as the bower vine. I'm pooped. I bet you are glad too! : 0
Taken 8-27-09, boy am I way behind. This is jpg 64, so I don't repeat

I know I'm tired. I forgot to attach the photo. Say goodnight, Irene! LOL!
WIB,
SW

Good show, SW! Thanks for sharing your garden. My eyes still pop when I see that plumbago photo! :-)

Great photos---you've definitely got the hang of that new camera!
The purple flower in your last shot is verbena bonarensis, (if you care). It's one of my favorites. Love to watch the hummers going to each little teeny bloom on the flower head.
Yes the canna is one of the slug I sent you----Journey's End---mine ususally gets more peach on part of the bloom, but it's been paler this year, too. Maybe the weather. Glad yours is blooming this year----looks like you found good spots for all of them!

Well you caught and passed me like I was sitting still on the camera work SW. The spider photo is especially incredible.

Oh baby, I got more! I've been really trying hard to practice using that new camera, and not always succeeding. I finally canabilized the old camera and took the wrist strap and the strap off the case, oh, and the memory chip too. Stored the chip, and I attached the wrist strap to the opposite side of the lens cap on the camera. Then I took the shoulder strap from old camera (with the clip on ends) and clipped them onto the camera strap so it passes behind my waist. Keeps the camera from banging into things when I unthinkingly bend forward to yank a weed, or am climbing hills. It works good. Probably looks strange, but I don't care. I am happy that I can still use it by sliding the strap up, and if I need to I can easily take photos without undoing the strap. I am seriously thinking about using velcro to keep the lens cap from swinging into my photo. I'd rather use that hand to steady. What do you guys do with your lens caps? To keep them out of your way while taking photos, that is?
Am thinking I need a tutor. Since I did speak to Jonathan last night, and discovered that he is taking a full class load, I'll have to catch him when I can, and just get out there and snap away.
Showed Jonathan the photos I downloaded last night. He was impressed with some of them, so I'll be showing you the best of the batch, if you can put up with me. I realize that my backyard is much bigger than other peoples, but there is always something to see. Lord knows there is always work to be done!
Glad you enjoyed them. : - )
Ima, thank you again for the beautiful cannas, they are very happy, and spreading like crazy. (I might have to separate some of those red ones in the corner, but I like them!) Still waiting for the one batch to bloom. But they are so nice, I'm trying to figure out where I can plant some more! : - )
I have some ideas.
I do have the name of the plant written on a tag next to it. It is one of my favorites, and I'm hoping that if it dies off in the winter, that it will reseed this spring. I like the Verbena, and I sure planted it in the right spot. The hummers hang out all through there. : - )
More photos later on. : - )
Warning, some are veggies or fruit.
WIB!
SW

Don't remember if I mentioned this before or not, I was watching a Gardening by the Yard episode a few weeks ago where they just used a Sharpie write plant names on broken terracotta pot pieces, and stick 'em in the ground. Definitely my style! I did my tomatoes that way. Now I have to figure out what to do with all the fancy labels and metal markers I bought in a DG co-op and never used.....sigh....

I love your idea of a front-side "papoose" arrangement for your camera! I'll have to do something similar when I get my new one---otherwise I'm sure to set it down "somewhere safe" and water it like I did my portable phone a few years back.....LOL!

Well, we could put your labels and markers with MY labels and markers, and we'd have...what? LOL

....a garage sale?

I bought a couple of fancy markers for my vegetable garden and then realized I could do the same myself. They are wires with a bend that lets you slide the seed packet over the wire and then slide a plastic sleeve over the seed packet to keep it dry. They look kinda cool in the garden, especially Renee's Garden seeds. Those packets are so pretty. But I only bought four wires and then realized I could just bend wire myself to make them and then use small ziplock bags to cover them.
My fuchsia collection has the nice copper tags. But for the life of me, I couldn't find an ink marker that didn't fade in the sun after a year or two and I don't have the time to engrave them! So for those, I printed out labels on small clear Avery sticky labels and then used the sharp edge of a piece of metal to smear a coat of clear aquarium sealant over the label I put onto the copper. Those have lasted a couple of years now.
Do you use a special kind of marker pen other than the standard indelible? I wonder how long the ink will last on the terracotta? Probably allot longer, since the ink would be absorbed by the clay......I think I should try it! Thanks for the idea imapigeon!

CatSmiling, there are also paint pens, and they do weather well. Especially when covered with sealant. You don't need an engraver, you need a couple of different stamps to stamp your copper tags. I admire your ability to "make it yourself". Is it an Indian thing or a military brat thing?
ima, I had to laugh, a garage sale indeed! Sounds like a RU!
KC, you got to quit handing ima, all the straight lines. (Still giggling!)
Okay, I should probably post this on the birding forum, but I saw this guy in my yard and DH and I have been arguing about what it is ever since. It was at least a foot tall. It doesn't look like any mockingbird I've ever seen.
This bird is also sitting about 25-30 feet up in the honey locust tree.
Will post more photos tomorrow, am tired out, and will have some time tomorrow.
WIB,
SW


This message was edited Sep 1, 2009 8:16 PM

s/he's a pretty cool-looking bird, SW! I wanna know what it is!
Heard my first Canada geese today headed south, and saw a big flock of ducks tonight moving that way, too. Guess it's colder than 95 degrees where they're coming from.....
My fall pottery class starts tomorrow----woohoo!!

Well SW, I could be wrong, but I believe that is a Western Kingbird. Unless it is an immature Great Kiskadee that has gotten lost, as those usually aren't found as far north and west as California. But neither one would be a foot tall......
Let us know what the bird forum says.
As for the do-it-yourself. It is a combo of military brat and indian ways! I can't stand to spend money on anything I think I can make myself. I have the metal alphabet stamps, but that seems like as much work as etching the copper. Maybe someday when I am doing well enough to have that kind of time on my hands, ha, ha! As it is, my most recent grand-nephew is waiting on his embroidered measuring chart. I cross-stitch a six foot length of Aida cloth. I have scenes at the top and another at the bottoms, with an alphabet running down the left side. Almost the entire alphabet on this one is my own design. But I ain't had time to work on it since Febuary and am stuck at half way through the violin for V..... I am looking forward to this winter and some time to relax.

I think it's a Kingbird, too. Try this link: http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/349/_/Western_Kingbird.aspx

DH and I concur, its a Western Kingbird. Thank you both! We have neighboring horse farms and once DH saw the photo and the range he admitted it was as big as I said. Thanks for that link KC!
I noticed my little gnatcatchers were hiding from him. Got stables next door and over the hill, and across the road. Lots of flies for him to eat. I did notice that we weren't getting as many flies this summer. Hmmm!
Tonight I had the pleasure of watching the bats out and about. Was way too cool! I tried taking photos last night but had no joy there. Oh well, it's a lot of fun to watch them flying around and we had a half dozen or so, over the house and gardens tonight. I love living here!
I do have more photos to share, but I just don't have the energy. Took DH in to get his foot worked on. He claims he has carpal tunnel of the foot, (lets not go there), and first noticed it bothering him while on the trip to OK. He could have let someone else drive! Anyway, in an effort to keep him off of his foot until the swelling went down, I talked him into taking a swim, and then a nap, and OOps I fell asleep too. Good thing! REM sleep!
Need some more!
WIB!
SW

Cool, I don't believe that I've ever seen a Kingbird. SW, funny you should mention the flies...for about 15 years now we've had these awful flies, show up around May and ruin the entire summer. Our neighbor's had county ag out and they didn't know what kind of fly it is. Another neighbor sent them (ag) one of the flies and their response was "This species does not exist"...truly. Everyone would say that the flies would disappear once the weather got really hot, which of course never happened....BUT, we've had virtually no flies this summer. I loaded up on all of the Rescue fly traps as usual but we never set them out and realized this last week that we've had no flies at all. I was going to ask if anyone else had experienced the same. The other unusual thing is that our Fuyu persimmon has no persimmons this year..none, not one, this has never happened before. Anyone else notice anything unusual?

Could be the long term effect of drought conditions. Not enough water for native plants to bloom and produce fruit for flies to eat when the ripe fruit drops. Less for animals to eat, so less poop for flies to eat and breed in, etc.
My neighbors up the road have this really aggresive fly that drives me nuts! It goes for the eyes and ears and it's loud! I brought some plants home for there and now I have them here too!
Most bird species do not live on seeds, they are carnivors of various types. They either fish, hunt, or eat tons and tons and tons of insects. Build bird houses for swallows, flycatchers, phoebes, kinglets, vireos, warblers, chickadees, kingbirds, you name it. They will come and eat your insects for you.

I love blue Morning Glories! Mine are in full bloom right now! Glorious!

PS WE HAVE A FUCHSIS FORUM I am one very happy Cat Smiling!!!!

This message was edited Sep 3, 2009 9:26 AM

We didn't have some of the big flies we normally get - but lots of the tiny ones. However, I have noticed the neighbors' horses have had their masks on for weeks.

wcgypsy, I've noticed that the drought has put the oaks into a drought mode, and some of the external branches are dropping their leaves. Acorns aren't as large or as plentiful and have ripened earlier than normal. The same goes for the walnuts, both the native and the English have been dropping their nuts for the last couple of weeks. This usually occurs in mid Sept. through the first part of Oct.
The brush is extremely dry. I am hoping that is why we have less flies, but suspect the Kingbird is helping.
I am vigilant about standing water, and go through every other day or so and dump out water containers that I'm starting plants in and the dogs water, the chickens water, any container that might hold water. I've got the gnatcatchers and the bats too. CatSmiling's explanation makes sense too. I just don't know, but overheard some weather pundits saying that we should expect a colder than normal winter. Oh, I forgot, the ants are collecting like tomorrow is the beginning of winter. Less problems with wasps this year. There are still a lot out there, but until today they weren't aggressive. Weird weather this year.
Any one else notice anything?
WIB!
SW

My adult cat already has a really, really thick layer of fur. I can't believe how thick it is. She is very uncomfortable in the heat we've been having. I've always been able to tell and cold and wet winter is coming when my cats do that.
Yes, they say it is going to be a wet one. The ocean is too warm for the varieties fish the seals are used to catching and they are starving up here. Literally.
Cheetah Girl and Tiger Boy are growing too fast to tell if their fur is going to be unusually thick. I'll let you know :-)

I hope so. I'm desperately longing for a cold and wet winter....

I do love a nice cold wet winter, make me feel like painting. I get all creative. But I live up on a ridge and the other side of it is washed away. Including a row of houses that used to be there!! The last two are just sort of hanging half way down....
After a drought as long as this one, and all of the fires, we can expect some serious erosion to happen this winter if it really is time for El Nino!! Even a normal winter cuts a channel through my side yard.