Happy New Year

My Boxing week haul

Snowy Monday morning

First snow of the seasonOur first snow

Our first snow

The rest of my carrots from the veggie garden, all washed and ready for the fridge.

Picton county

On the ferry approaching Glenora in Picton county

Christmas prep

My Frugal week

My $20 kettle

Thanksgiving weekend

Fall leaves

Outdoor work

I took one of my garden pumpkins.....

turned it on its side, added wooden "feathers" and a turkey "head", and covered the stem by tying a bandanna around the back of his head. Voila....a cute little Thanksgiving decoration for the front porch made for me by my SIL from Smith Falls a few years back. I have since copied the pattern and made one for a friend of mine. 

When did it become October?

My pink potentilla shrub blooms most of the summer right into late fall.

Frugal Friday

I am not at all sure of the name of this plant, as I got it from my SIL and she didn't know what it was. It grew on a shady side of her house and was a stunningly tall specimen. Unfortunately, when I transplanted it at my house, I put it in a sunnier location. It is easily 7  feet tall, bees love it, but the deeply lobed leaves have burned and dried. Its  leaves are not in this picture. The leaves in this photo belong to a climbing shrub which has wrapped around these tall  almost  black stems. I think the plant likes its location, but it definitely needs more moisture and perhaps a little more shade than what it gets now. My very best guess, after researching on-line, is that this is a Black Cohosh plant. It is lovely as a specimen plant at the back of the flower bed against the fence, but I have very sadly neglected the bed this summer.  

I'm back from the Jersey Shore

My perennial hibiscus. This was a wonderful surprise when I got back, as I was afraid it wouldn't have time to bloom before a hard frost. There are lots of buds on it so I hope the weather continues to be warm. 

My garden is winding down.

I found some volunteer geranium plants in some of my planters. I dug them up and potted them to overwinter inside.

Kitchen clean-up

A broken cabinet in my teeny tiny kitchen.

My frugal activities this week

Bronze garden mums

Fall cleaning

This is my second cantaloupe (musk melon) from the garden. I brought the first one in yesterday and it is gone already.  My one starter plant that I bought in the Spring has produced 4 deliciously sweet melons which is enough because I am the only one who eats them. Loving it. 

Take advantage of Ontario produce now

Five pounds of carrots, five pounds of onions, or ten pounds of potatoes for $1.88 at Food Basics.

You may recognize this sedum found in most gardens this time of year. It is called "Autumn Joy". My plants are in various shades of colour depending on how much sunlight they  receive during the day...anywhere from white buds to dark pink. Before the snow comes, these flowers will turn burgundy. These perennials are so easy to grow. They split easily for transplant, are drought resistant, will grow in sun or shade (though it prefers sun) and will develop into a nice neat mound that makes a beautiful backdrop for your garden even when it is not blooming. One of my favourites.

My frugal week

What I have always called my Fall Asters, but they are more likely mums. Certainly the leaves appear to be Chrysanthemums, but these are extremely hardy and grow quite tall.

Thank goodness for those very few annuals my husband picked up in the Spring. At the end of the summer my perennial garden is looking a little sad. I noticed my neighbour has pulled out or cut back everything and has tilled up the soil. It looks very neat and tidy. 

My volunteer sunflower. This was planted by the birds between the patio blocks behind the shed.

Fast easy cushion cover for non-sewers (like me)

My frugal activities this week

I don't know what these are called. A family member brought back seeds from Holland several years ago, and we have had these in our garden ever since. They are prolific self-seeders, as evidenced by the flowers growing over the fence in my neighbour's yard. They are very tall and the bees love 'em. They are rather pretty in the back of the border.

Obedient Plant

My harvest from the veggie garden tonight after dinner.

Two planters that I did not plant this spring. More self seeding of flowers from last year's Portulaca. 




One of many Hosta under the lilac trees in the back.

Purple coneflower or echinacea purpurea. It is utterly amazing that they can grow in this jungle of a garden. There is Russian Sage just in the background, but everything else is basically WEEDS.

Sea Lavender or Statice is wonderful as a cut flower in a bouquet, or dried for a winter arrangement.

Globe Thistle

Pink Phlox

Monarda or Bee Balm. I used to have Crimson Bee Balm, but over the years it slowly died out and in its place grew this mauve flower. It's pretty, but I would love to replace it again with the bright red blooms that attract hummingbirds.

The birthday party

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) I personally prefer the name brown-eyed Susans. They surely look like brown centres to me. Daisies are my favourite kind of flower.

One of my day lilies in the foreground with purple liatris (Gay Feather) in the background.

I want to show you a planter from my pond in the back yard. These are two lovely shades of pink petunias that I planted LAST YEAR. That's right! I never got around to putting any flowers in  these planters this spring; but as it turns out, I didn't have to. These lovelies self-seeded and have done very well for themselves in spite of the lack of attention from yours truly. If only all my planters would do this, I'd be ecstatic. Would save me a bundle. 

My clematis does very well in this spot of the garden. It gets sunshine all morning and into the afternoon, and because it like its roots shaded, it does well at the base of my "snowball hydrangea".  If you are looking closely at the photo, yes my fence needs painting desperately, yes those are small LED Christmas lights still up (I never take them down), and why yes, that is a rather tall weed growing next to the clematis (about 4 ft. tall actually). Just keeping it real folks.

I believe these are called Shirley poppies. I didn't plant them. They just appeared one year and self seed every year and everywhere, including my driveway. If all the weeds in my driveway looked like these, I wouldn't mind so much. They are very short-lived, but are very pretty with large full (peony-like) pinky mauve blooms. 

Smooth hydrangea (Snowball)

Golden Marguerites

Japanese spirea.....one of my flowering shrubs that is SO easy to grow.

Blue and white Campanula (Bellflower)

Sunny Primrose on a very overcast afternoon.

My pink peonies bloom after the red ones are almost finished. They are very large and heavy.

Blue perennial geranium.

Coral Bells look so dainty and last so long in the garden. The leaves look a little like Pelargonium ( annual geranium). The Primrose in the background look like they are going to burst out any day now, and mallow grows in the foreground.