Fertilizer Friday

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time.
Stop by and see who's flaunting their flowers this week.
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Above, 'Dahlia Flowered Mixed' zinnia.
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Above, 'Heavenly Blue' Morning Glory.
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Above, the front steps are still looking good.
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Above, 'Kordes' Perfecta' rose.
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Above, 'Gemini' rose.
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Above, 'Pearly Gates' and 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory.
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Above, 'Burpeeana Giants Mixed' cactus zinnia.
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Above, one of a matched set of burning bush.

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Things are still blooming away in the garden. The fall weather is finally here! Cool, crisp days. Crystal blue skies. The mountain is turning into a patchwork of red, orange and gold.

Harvest Monday

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions.

Stop by and check out who's harvesting what this week.
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I was surprised this week by ripe tomatoes. The vines are loaded with green tomatoes and the days have been just warm enough to ripen a few of them.

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Above, 'Bush Celebrity', 'Orange Banana', 'Snowberry' and 'Black Cherry' tomatoes.
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Above, another pound of beans harvested this week. I thought the plants were slowing down, but they proved me wrong.

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I'd really like to start major garden clean up, but everything seems to still be growing. The last time this happened, the first frost was in late November. A very early snow followed and the garden did not get cleaned up till spring! I guess there are worse things that could happen ;)

Fertilizer Friday

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time.
Stop by and see who's flaunting their flowers this week.

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Above, a pink geranium on the front steps still blooming away.

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Above, the dahlia patch. The tall ones are 'Double Extreme Mixed' fronted by 'Stargazer Mixed'.

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Above, a black red 'Stargazer' selection.

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Above, a deep pink and white 'Double Extreme' selection.

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Above, light peach 'Double Extreme' selection.

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Above, 'Zahara Fire' zinnia, 'Bonanza Mixed' marigold and an ancient cyclamen which is well over a foot across!

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Above, 'Pearly Gates' morning glory.

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Above, 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory.

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Above, 'Heavenly Blue' and 'Pearly Gates' morning glories

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No frost yet , but the nights are getting much cooler. The dahlia's continue to delight, blooming more and more. I'm very surprised at the unusual colors from 'Double Extreme Mixed'. Very surprising for a seed grown blend. Now if I could only find a reasonably priced source for seeds of 'Showpiece' dahlias...

Harvest Monday

Harvest is Monday is sponsored by

Daphne's Dandelions.

Stop by and check out who's harvesting what this week.
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Above, it's only fitting that this weeks harvest should be displayed on a harvest table.

.Above, this weeks pole bean harvest 'Rattlesnake','Gold of Bacou', 'Potomac', 'Blue Coco' and 'Cornetto Largo Verde'

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Above, bush beans 'Masai', 'Beurre de Rocquencourt' and 'Slenderette'

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The bean harvest is starting to slow down now that the temp's are getting a bit more seasonal. There are loads of little peppers that I'll be watching closely and the lettuce is starting to size up nicely. I'm shocked at how well my 'Evergreen' parsley has done this year. The leaves are much larger than 'Gigante d'Italia. The parsley in the photo above is just one small section from an 'Evergreen' stem.

Fertilizer Friday

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time.

Stop by and see who's flaunting their flowers this week.

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These are from the beginning of the week, with my new fall/winter work schedule it's still dark when I leave for work.
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An over view looking towards the vegetable area.
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'Petite Orange' marigolds and a stray red marigold.
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Impatiens, 'Zahara Fire' zinnia and 'Bonanza Flame' marigold.
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A 'Dahlia Flowered' zinnia.
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'Apricot Blush' zinnia.
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Seed grown 'Cactus Mixed' dahlia and friend.
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'Zinnita White' miniature zinnia.
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Last, but not least, the first flower of 'Pearly Gates' morning glory. I was starting to wonder if I would be entering those pearly gates before these bloomed. They are loaded with buds. I'm hoping I can get a few good days of bloom before frost.
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Have a good weekend.

The Poinsettia

This weekend the poinsettia was brought into the house. The variety is 'Twilight Monet'. It was purchased in December of 2007. This spring it was transplanted into 16" pot and is now over 3 feet across, and two people are needed to carry it. It will be getting 12 hours of darkness until it begins to show color, usually in early December.
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Below is a picture from 2008, the first year I actually re bloomed a poinsettia. Now imagine what it will look this year :)

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Fertilizer Friday

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time.
Stop by and see who's flaunting their flowers this week.
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Fall to me really means three types of flowers, marigold, dahlia and chrysanthemum. The mums usually take center stage, but with the cool nights and shorter days the dahlia's and marigolds really start to shine.

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Above, 'Aztec Sunset' zinnia, hard to photograph, but so easy to grow.
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Above, a golden mum that's been here for years.
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Above, two of the seed grown cactus dahlia's.
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Above, 'Golden Unicorn' rose.
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Above, a yellow selection from 'Double Extreme Mixed' dahlia. From the shape of the petals this one looks it has pom-pom ancestry.
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Above, a deep pink from 'Stargazer' dahlia.
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Above, a selection from the 'Cactus Mixed' dahlia that were grown from seed. Note the yellow near the heart of the flower. This one definitely will be over wintered to see how it looks when more mature.
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Above, a stray red marigold that was in with the 'Petite Orange' marigold seed. Both are shown above.

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I had originally thought I wouldn't have much to show this week, but it looks like I'll have good bloom for the rest of the month. The long range forecast shows daytime highs in the low 70's and night time lows in the upper 40's. Great fall gardening weather!

Fall Lettuce

At long last the lettuce was finally big enough to plant outside. The weather has been cool, overcast and rainy. Perfect for setting out the seedlings.
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Above, 'Heirloom Mixed' from Renee's Garden Seed.

Above, 'Bronze Beauty' and 'Buttercrunch'.

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Pictures of them planted out will follow.

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A note about 'Bronze Beauty'. This is the same lettuce that everyone sells as 'Bronze Arrowhead'. Can someone tell me why? It was introduced in 1947 as 'Bronze Beauty', it won a bronze medal in the All-America Selections as 'Bronze Beauty', it was featured in the catalogs as 'Bronze Beauty' (and I have the old catalogs to prove it!). Sorry folks, this is one of my pet peeves. If we know the correct name, why change it? Until some one can tell me other wise it will be called 'Bronze Beauty'.

Harvest Monday- Beans

Daphne's Dandelions is the host for Harvest Monday.

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This is probably my last major harvest of beans for the season. The beans have been my best producers this year. I've picked over a pound a week for the last ten weeks. Despite most of the pole bean tripods being overrun with morning glories they are still producing.
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Above, from left to right, pole beans 'Potomoc', 'Rattlesnake', 'Gold of Bacou', 'Blue Coco' and 'Cornetto Largo Verde'.
. Above, bush beans ' Beurre de Rocquencourt', 'Slenderette', 'Cherokee', 'Purple Queen' and 'Masai'.

The bush beans are growing in a block of six square feet. Planted in the beginning of July production took of when the the temp's finally dropped below 90 degrees.

My favorite of the bush beans this year is 'Slenderette', incredible production of slender pods that hold for a few days. It may replace my all time favorite 'Greencrop' next year as my main bush bean.