“Mornin’ Neighbor!”

A week ago, fairly early in the morning, I was sitting outside in the garden, and a street over I heard, “Mornin Neighbor!” Although I don’t know who they were greeting, I’m guessing I know who the greeter was. It was a pleasant “over-hearing” and it made me think – Over the years here we have enjoyed many days of sitting on the patio and having neighbors come over – to see the garden, or just to chat, just as we have enjoyed walking our dogs and stopping by to talk.

We are also coming up on the time of year where we literally “give” some of our garden to neighbors. It’s so cool to have neighbors tell us in the spring to come and see how well something we gave them is doing! It’s different from the neighborhood we raised our kids in, but just as fun, and just as social.

It was a perfect morning that day I heard the “Mornin’ Neighbor!” greeting and a nice reminder that almost 16 years later we’ve made a lot of memories here, and friends and neighbors.

Onward

My cloud photo reminders (This day in 2017, 2016 …) are kind of tough to look at right now. I had three huge ‘Touch of Class’ hostas that bloomed about this time of year, cheering up the garden after the daylilies finished blooming, and drawing the hummingbirds and bees.

Something got them over the winter/early spring. Only one came back, and that one is about 1/4 of the size of previous years. I am sad. But I used that space for more daylilies this year, some of which were seeds planted directly in the ground. I also used some of that space to add the two new ‘Hush Little Baby’ daylilies I enjoyed so much. And I took the opportunity to buy another ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ hosta to put in that space. I am fairly in love with those, similar to my affinity for ‘Blue Mouse Ears’! Multiples, multiples.

So onward and upward – gardens evolve. Which leads me back to the ‘Rainforest Sunrise’. Could there be a more beautiful leaf? And combined with the purple scapes and lavender blooms, no wonder they draw the attention in the garden this time of year.

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I think I “need” an arch of them, similar to the arch of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ that bloom so profusely in early summer.

Last daylily of the 2018 season

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Today our last daylily of the 2018 season bloomed.

I was fortunate that none bloomed while we were up north. Yesterday none bloomed either. But the inevitable day came today. I wished it was Saturday so I could have enjoyed it all day, but alas, it was a work day. Still, it was a gorgeous night – just on the edge of brisk. We grilled out, watched the birds, including a hummingbird who absolutely loves our hostas that are blooming (more on that tomorrow), had a squirrel stop by, and I took plenty of pictures of our last daylily of the season.

Clover, over and over

I have a thing about clover. I know they are considered a weed, but Dad got me going on keeping some of the clover for the bees. I noticed, however, that we are getting some in the grass now and that’s probably not great. I will reluctantly pluck that. But the adorable new species ‘Blue Mouse Ears Clover’ (pictured above) gets to stay 😁

Hay there!

We were up in northern Minnesota for a few days and saw that there are a multitude of hay bales already in the fields.

We also saw quite a few does, some with fawns, including this one with her two.

Back home, one of our white squirrels greeted us, and then proceeded with dinner.

Today the last Purple D’Oro daylily bloomed.

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And there are only two ‘Marque Moon’ buds left. Two bloomed yesterday (“twins”) and two bloomed today.

Fall is on our heels.

Crisp morning air

20180823_070328 Yesterday morning I was up at 5am. My husband told me it was 51° and I couldn’t resist. I had to check it out, that glorious pre-fall feel, before the day warms up. This morning when my alarm went off at 6:30, I didn’t dally. It is 55° and gorgeous out in the garden. Warm enough to be comfortable, and take it all in, but oh so crisp. There is nothing like a Minnesota morning as we are on the cusp of fall.

There is only one daylily blooming today. Yesterday I counted 6 ‘Marque Moon’ blooms left and only one ‘Purple D’Oro’ left. I will miss the beautiful color each night as we sit out in the garden, but pre-fall mornings are absolutely glorious!

Gleaning

A few days ago we watched a variety of young birds, including one of the young cardinals, feed off the seed the squirrels dropped on the ground. The squirrels are going through so much seed lately we were not surprised at how long the young birds were able to hop around, picking up seed. What came to mind was Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz. It was such a visual reminder that God always provides. It might not be what we anticipate but he is faithful and he will make a way.

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Last ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylily of the season

Today the last ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylily bud of the season bloomed. We are going to miss them. They are so cheerful!

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All that’s left now of the daylilies are a few ‘Purple D’Oro’ buds and about a dozen ‘Marque Moon’ buds.

There’s been just a tinge of “fall’s coming” in the air the past few mornings. The air here was hazy for a few days due to the Canadian wildfires, but has now cleared. Our thoughts are with all who have been affected.

The clematis is reblooming

One of the first things I planted in our gardens was a couple varieties of clematis. They grew like crazy. We had tall trellises and even those bowed under the weight of the early vines. It was so dense that one year we had a bird make a nest there! We really enjoyed carefully watching from inside the house as mama came to feed the babies. Eventually, however, the vines got to be such a jumble that I cut them down and started over with shorter trellises. That was all before we went to primarily hostas, daylilies, asian lilies and sedum, but they still come back every year and bloom a few times. They starting blooming again in the past few days.

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Every spring I end up plucking out multitudes of clematis volunteers, but the blooms are just so pretty that they have earned a permanent place in the garden.