One More Time

There is still some garden action in south central Ontario.

The roses are blooming their little hearts out and working hard at reaching the archway of the arbor.



I was about to cut back the delphiniums for the winter and noticed this new growth so I'll let them have their way.



I'm not sure about the lavender--it'll try having another shot at dazzling us.



The Cardinal dogwood( I'm copping out on the latin name) is pretty boring during the summer, but soon it will start to shine. right now the white winter berries are forming.

Then in the winter the bark will turn crimson and it's a perfect foil against the snow.

Frost Cometh, Frost Goeth

We had heavy frost the other night according to my weather- watch rooftops over the fence.



By day we returned to hot and humid.

In the meantime I finally picked the ripe eggplant and read up on how to cook it to make it taste like anything.



It appears there are two choices; pretend it's fried chicken and fry accordingly or moosh it up and add bread crumbs, tomato sauce, a ton of seasonings and cheese.

Which leads me to believe these beautifully colored things have got to be used for something else. On their own, they have no flavor and they're often slippery on the way down.

They're off my planting list for next year. Sorry, guys.

The King Wears a Cabbage Crown

He's also managed to outwit the bunnies.

I'm Suffering From Camera Envy

A nice plump bee obligingly lights on the Dahlia and this is the best my camera can do.



Okay, my lack of skills might be a contributing factor but owning a better camera would be nice.

Real Estate Fiasco

I don't know about your part of the world, but here in south-central Ontario the real estate market has been booming.

The market is so active that agents we've encountered seem to have lost the will to work at their trade anymore; they settle into their armchairs and wait for their clients to do the scouting around and report back.

This is our experience:

Early in the summer three of our family groups wanted to combine forces and buy a property with at least two houses in place.

This isn't impossible since there is a large old order Mennonite population in the area and they do just that--add another house for the next generation, or tack on for the older folks. Also there are triplexes, duplexes, semi-detached properties.

Here's the inducement for the agent--you sell two of our houses, get the commission on that and find us the property we want and get the commission on that.

We approached some agents and were confronted with a lot of head scratching and a mumble about seeing what's out there. You could almost see their eyes glaze over at the prospect of having to hustle.

We checked online and found a property worth checking out and contacted the agents but this place didn't fit the criteria so we waited for the agents to come up with something else.

And we're still waiting to hear back.

We've gone to open houses where the agent scarcely looks up from his reading, even though we poked him to check for life signs before explaining our needs.

What we want sounds like too much trouble and why should they bother when the market is so ripe right now?

From here on, we'll act as our own agents and we can't possibly do any worse.

Dahlias

This is my first attempt at growing dahlias and they have proved to be the glamour girls of the garden.


Next year, a whole chorus line.

Still Life

Summer has an extended warranty

The Clematis decided to give it another go and they're blooming their little hearts out. Thanks guys.


This zucchini looks like a cross between an orange cigar and a melting popsicle.


The Ligularia is looking less swamp-like these days and the leaves fill in the side garden nicely.



Personally, I'm grateful for every day without a sign of frost.

Autumn Crocus

I think that Colchicums are the most amazing plants.


first comes this lush growth of leaves in June, something like giant Lily-of-the-valley leaves.Then at the end of June the leaves disappear entirely and nothing more happens until fall.

In September, along come these little beauties, taller than a crocus but enchanting.

I'm so happy to have made their acquaintance.

What is This?

I bought this plastic pumpkin at a thrift store, thinking it was a music box.
Not so.


Here it is with it's innards removed, a crank mechanism.

This is what the bottom looks like.

Does anyone know what it is and what it does?

September

My friend Fish believes he can see me but I can't see him. He hasn't caught on to the idea of lurking under a wider lily.

The hollyhocks are trying for the neighborhood's tallest plant award. I think they've got the title nailed. I like to think they're simpering at a couple of tall beauties a few fences over.


The roses are admirimg themselves in the fence mirror but who can blame them? They're beauties.

Hang in there guys. September promises to be a warm month.

Vacancy

Penthouses, one bedroom. Available for winter.


Complete with guard frog.