Friday, October 22, 2010

Fall Flowers And Leaves of Flames

 

"A solitary maple on a woodside flames in single scarlet,
recalls nothing so much as the daughter of a noble house
dressed for a fancy ball, with the whole family gathered
around to admire her before she goes."
-   Henry James -

 

Leaves_Aflame6

This Maple tree beside the house was beautiful with red
leaves as it is every Fall but now they are upon the ground
and have been mowed up to  enhance the soil.

Leaves_Aflame4

The leaves just went too fast this Fall because of
the dry conditions here in Ohio but they looked radiant
against the wonderful clear blue skies while they lasted.

 

Geranium_FallLeaf2

Even the small leaves seemed to find my flowers
a pleasant place to rest and they to had to go to as
more flowers were brought in because of the forecast
of a freeze last night.I was glad they were wrong this
time and the remaining potted plants looked alright
this morning.

Iceberg_Pink2

As did some of the plants that are still trying to put
on some blooms. Iceberg roses have a pink tinge to
them now and I am simply loving this rose after its
first year in the rose bed. It is still putting on buds.
For those of you who grow it in the colder climates
is this pink tinge a normal occurrence when the days
grow shorter and the nights cooler?

 

Mums_RedLeaf

Have I ever mentioned that I hate oak leaves. LOL!
I know a few times at least. But the tough things take
forever to break down and they find their way upon
my front porch and walkway all winter long from winter
winds blowing them in from the woods around here.
Some of the leaves will hang on through the winter.
It is as though they refuse to give up and leave
the trees or give up the Summer. I think I am like
those oak leaves because I hate to give up the
Summer to what lays ahead too.

Field2

Gone also are the bright red leaves from the Maple
tree across the road along the field.
The traffic was non stop last weekend by the house
so my daughter and I left the county and went south
to hike around Lake Hope and enjoy their scenery.
We thought it was only fair since they must have
all been up here for the day. LOL!  We saw a few
lovely trees but their prettier leaves were gone like ours.
We did manage to run into swarms and swarms of
Asian Ladybugs or beetles. What a mess they are
here in Ohio. They are not like our Ladybugs and I
loath them and wish I could wring the  neck of the
brilliant people who decided they would be wonderful
to kill other pests. When will we ever learn to leave
bugs and animals to their own habitat. I put them
right up there with the African bees only they won’t kill
you but your house and you will smell like your dead.
Rant over!

Fall_Mornings4

Just a few stragglers are trying to hang onto the maple
along the woodland bed.

Mums_BBee

The Bees are taking what flowers and blooms they
can find here in the garden now.

Imaptiens_MorningSun

All the Impatiens and most of tender plants were pulled
up and thrown away Wednesday. Pots were cleaned
and lugged to the basement to wait until Spring.
There are still daffodil bulbs and a few lilies to plant
yet. I also have been waiting for a few months for an
order from a nursery that have to be planted yet if they
ever decided to show up before winter.
This may be a lesson learned about this nursery
and put on the do not buy from list.
Do any of you have a list of these nurseries besides
myself?

Morning_Berries2

In the woods along the yard there are some beautiful
deep burgundy leaves and also some berries from
the Green Briar vines.
Join us with Tootsie at “ Tootsie Time “ for Fertilizer
Friday
and ‘Flaunt Your Blooms’ !

Fertilizer_Friday
I am off today to the Circleville Pumpkin Show with
my daughter. It has been a few years since we attended
so it should be fun to look at the changes and the
monster pumpkin. Of course I may have to force
myself to eat some pumpkin fudge or a waffle. LOL!
Everyone have a great weekend!

Happy Gardening Everyone !!
Lona

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Lona, The Maple colours are indeed beautiful and must have been a spectacular sight whilst they lasted.

I could not agree more about Rosa 'Iceberg'. It is such a sturdy plant and very vigorous in growth. It is amazing that you still have blooms in October.

Carol said...

Your Maple tree was beautiful but I love the muted colors ablaze along the road too. I love the flower portraits - leaf catchers. Lovely fall colors and photos Lona! Great bee shot. Love the James quote. ;>)

Kay said...

Your photographs are great. I especially like the one of the maple leaves. Thanks for sharing your fall colors with us.

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Beautiful fall, Lona! The colors are waning here and I am sure after the rain this weekend, there will be tons of leaves on the ground.

Eileen

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What beautiful fall color you have! The mums are so pretty too.
My Iceberg rose always starts taking on a pinkish hue when it gets cold. I hadn't noticed any pink yet this year yet though.

Floridagirl said...

Enjoyed those gorgeous leaf photos! Can't wait to see my maple change colors in January! ; ) Have to admit I love oak leaves, though the tiny leaves from our Southern Live Oaks are very quick to break down and condition our sandy soil wonderfully. I've witnessed those ladybugs you talk about at my inlaws' house in Detroit. They too complained of them as though they were a pest. I've never seen that problem here in Florida (knock on wood!). As for mail-order, I've had so many bad experiences, such that I will only buy in person these days.

Enjoy your festival, eat to your heart's content, and have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

I do indeed have a "do not buy from" nursery list. On my blog, I link to nurseries that I know and trust and support regularly. For those who live around here, it's fairly obvious which ones are NOT there. I hear you on the asian ladybugs. They're exasperating, but they may have gotten here by accident, rather than by importation. I'm not sure. Must lok that up.

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Gorgeous tree Lona, it's too bad the leaves fell so soon. Perfect quote to describe a red maple in the fall. I miss them so much...

Bonnie said...

I just love your photos! Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

There is still a fair bit blooming in your garden. I love the opening shot of the red maples. That color couldn't be more brilliant! I am with you on the Asian Ladybugs. They are a huge problem here as well. They get into our house and go dormant till mid-winter, when they wake and fly around in our attic. So annoying!! If you crush them, they put off a stink worse than skunks! Have a great time at the Pumpkin show. Jennifer

A Garden of Threads said...

Lona, Love your leaf photos, such beautiful shades of red. Not many leaves left on the trees here. Woke up to snow on the ground today, yuck. Enjoy your weekend.

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

Hi Lona - the autumn shades are wonderful in your part of the world but I'm so glad that we don't have those asian ladybugs. I can remember in 1976 when a swarm of some type of ladybug came to the UK and it wasn't pleasant. Just earlier this year there was a swarm up in the scottish islands further north than us and they were getting into peoples homes too. Have a great weekend and I'm sure we'll be seeing some more great photos of your trip this weekend.

Patsy said...

Your fall header is lovely.I wish fall would last longer.
Patsy

Jean said...

Your photos certainly show off the fall colors. Just beautiful! Jean

Karen said...

Hi Lona, beautiful pictures, as always. Loved the red maples. And agree with you completely on 'certain' mail order places that don't fulfill their orders on time AND the ladybug/beetle invaders from who knows where, gads, I hate them too! And they actually kind of bite when it's warm out and smell when you squish them. Fun, fun.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lona, Your fall colors are depicted very well in these photos. Not to mention the flowers! Pumpkin fudge? For real? Sounds delectable.

Balisha said...

That tree is beautiful. Raining here today and the leaves are coming down..Balisha

pogonip said...

Autumn leaves are worth the loss of summertime. Gorgeous photo and memorable quote there!

My Iceberg has her pinkish tinge too as the weather cools down. All my roses have more intense color at this time of year.

Anonymous said...

I sure love the flame red maples there, and all the flowers still lingering on. My RadSunny Knockout rose also has pink polka dots this time of year, so it must the chill doing it. Between our trip and working, there is a lot of work still to be done in my yard! I work at noon tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get a few things done before that. The Poconos were pretty, but not sure I'd drive that far again for such a short trip when your HHills are just as pretty!

Yumi's Blog said...

Oh! Those flowers caught my attention. It seems you have a great flower gardens. How I wish I could have a cool garden like yours. Keep it up!

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