September 30th birds...

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns.
(George Eliot)
Last night I saw some more migrating birds at the rock so this morning, I sat out with my camera to see who is all visiting on this last day of September. First to appear are the robins, they are definitely the "early birds" and are usually the first ones on the rock every day. A song sparrow was the next to arrive.
Then the "regulars" come, the goldfinches and the house sparrows (I didn't bother with a photo of those)...
and the bluejays.
Next, was a pretty little warbler. I'm not sure but with the bright white eye ring he might be a Nashville warbler.
A junco came in
but was frightened off when a white throated sparrow arrived.
As I was trying to take a photo of those two, another bird flew in...
some type of sparrow and as I try to identify it, the shy junco tries once again to come in.
Yes, it is a Harris sparrow! Might be a juvenille male since his black marking isn't has promient.
Finally, the shy junco gets the rock to himself...
and starts to bathe...
when a second one joins him.
A yellow rumped warbler waits his turn...
and as he bathes, I notice he also has a spot of yellow on his head. I've never really paid attention to that before.
I wonder what October will bring the garden?

someone's watching me...

oh, what a glorious morning....
oh, what a glorious day...It's a beautiful cool, crisp, sunshine filled autumn morning here in the garden. These morning glories which have performed poorly all summer have finally burst forth in all their glory only days/weeks away from the first frost.
I have been seeing several sphinx moths or as some call them "hummingbird moths" around the garden. I have been having as much luck as I do with the hummers (which isn't much!) trying to capture their wings not all blurred from their constant motion.
I followed this one around for 5 minutes shooting away and managed to capture two half way decent shots...
but the whole time, I felt like "someone was watching me"!
Look at his eyes...he managed to fly from blossom to blossom and manuever his proboscis to drink all the while keeping his eyes on me and the camera! I especially like the one where he is facing away from me but I can still see the black of his eyeball looking back. I learned a new word today :-)

Scenes from Saturday...

Living Nature, not dull art
Shall plan my ways and rule my Heart.
(John Henry Cardinal Newman)
The fall garden may be looking ragged but there is still plenty of beauty to behold...




I'm happy to say I still have a visiting hummer but on Wednesday I spotted a female Junco and saw the male today...the first sign of approaching winter?
It seems like an early arrival this year, especially when we were at 84 degrees yesterday!

All is well...

Sing, little yellow bird, through the crisp air;
Summer is passing, we will not care.

Autumn is coming, some will be sad;
Sing, little yellow bird, we will be glad.
(Ralph Spaulding Cushman)
Scenes from the autumn garden...warblers moving through and butterflies spread their wings...
sunlight highlights the amaranth...
and the goldies are fattening up for their long fast...
birds enjoy their bath...
and bees buzz everywhere...
All is well...

New friends...

One of the most delightful things about gardening is the freemasonry it gives with other gardeners, and the interest and pleasure all gardeners get by visiting other people's gardens. We all have a lot to learn and in every new garden there is a chance of finding inspiration - new flowers, different arrangement or fresh treatment for old subjects. Even if it is a garden you know by heart there are twelve months in the year and every month means a different garden, and the discovery of things unexpected all the rest of the year.
(Margery Fish, We Made a Garden, 1956)

Last night some garden friends, Jan & Judy, brought two of my blog readers to visit the gardens. It was a pleasure to meet Bonnie and fellow blogger, Kathy and give them a tour of the late Sept. garden. I was feeling kind of self conscious as the garden is way past prime and I have been digging and pulling like a mad woman redoing a couple of areas when Bonnie said "don't worry, from reading the blog we know the garden and could give the tour" :-) I love meeting fellow gardeners like this! It was a joy to meet both of you and just look at these beautiful toadstools they brought me...but, the very best part of this gift is that everyone knows that fairies like to rest from their labor under the shade of the toadstools and unbeknownst to them, I have been busy collecting things for a new addition to the garden in 2009...a fairy garden!
So far, I have a three arbors, a wooden gate, a birdbath, some trellises and a beautiful, rhubarb leaf patio (won't that look beautiful with a mini iron patio set?). Over the winter I am looking to make or find a bridge, some fairy doors, a glass house, furniture, the perfect little fairies and any other interesting things I come across. The rhubarb leaf was a gift from another blog reader, Bernie & his wife and I think a fairy patio is the perfect use for it. What beautiful reminders of garden friends!

Wordless Wednesday...

You didn't really think I could be completely silent did you? I do love the idea of wordless wednesday that I copied from Lynne though.

successes and failures...

Gardens are inevitably a trade-off of successes and failures.
(Rebecca Rupp)It's that time of year when once again, I make notes for my garden album/journal on annuals that are successes and failures in Marsha's Garden. To be labeled a success in my garden means easy to grow and something I find beautiful. Two of my all time favorites are the orange and lemon gem marigolds (those little orange blossoms pictured in the front) and the victoria salvias. My favorite place to plant the gem marigolds is near paths and when your leg brushes them as you walk by they release a strong citrusy scent which I just love. After the first frost, I save a bag of seed heads and store them in the cabin. Next spring I toss them around and see how many will grow back. You can also buy these as seed packets labeled Burpee Heirloom Gem marigolds.
The victoria series of salvias are a favorite because they really attract butterflies, they bloom all season with no deadheading, the blue & purple make other colors "pop" in the garden and they will self seed. Above, is Victoria Blue and Victoria White and below, is Victoria Blue in the foreground and Victoria Evolution (a purple blossom). After the frost, I will run my hand along the blossom shaft and toss the seeds around the garden and next year they will pop up here and there and I just weed out the ones I don't want.
This year's failures include two Golden Delicious Pineapple sage plants. They were purchased as single speciality annuals so they were not cheap but the description was for beautiful chartreuse foilage with bright red blossoms. They sure sounded great but it is now Sept 22nd and I've yet to see a bloom. I'll be saving my $$ on these next year.
The new little pee gee hyrdrangea tree in the front landscaping is bending over under the weight of huge blossoms. As pretty as they are, I'll be cutting them off today before the branches permanently bend.
We had beautiful weather over the weekend and took the opportunity to do more backroad exploring on our bikes. Funny, how they always lead us to a DQ :-)
Have a wonderful day!