Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Autumnal
It certainly feels like fall here. It's been gray and dismal and cold for 3 (or is it 4?) days now. Tuesday, I went looking for my wool socks. And I put up the winter bird feeder. The hummingbirds are still coming around to their sugar-water, so I won't take than one down until much later. Haven't seen a butterfly for days. There are probably more migrant birds to be seen, but I haven't had a chance to look for them. Yesterday a house wren was flitting around the PeeGee hydrangea. I was hoping it was an early kinglet, but no.
But there are still lots of flowers in bloom, and the recent rains turned the lawn an almost-fluorescent green. The tomatoes are sloooooowly ripening still, and the squirrels have been leaving them alone. Tomato fruitworms are another matter. I was watching a Kellogg's Breakfast tomato starting to ripen, and then yesterday noticed a big hole in it, and another cursed caterpillar sticking its head out. Onto the compost pile. Kellogg's Breakfast hasn't gotten a fair taste test. The only one I've had so far, I picked very green and it started to get soft before it got very ripe. So, I added it to my Summer Vegetable Tian and cooked it for a very long time.
The plants are giving autumnal signs too. The winterberry holly berries are now quite red; the black haw viburnum berries are acquiring rosy tints over the green; the dogwood berries are red; and I thought the Japanese maple leaves were starting to change color, but at least two of them think it's spring instead, sprouting new leaves.
3 Comments:
It's autumnal here, too... isn't "autumnal" a great word? It sounds so regal, stately, elegant--and yet fun!
Even though it's still 95º here, and the air doesn't feel autumnal, the plants are changing, with berries turning color. The aster and chrysanthemum buds are beginning to swell, and we still have butterflies, dragonflies and hummingbirds around. A couple of the surviving pepper plants even have tiny peppers forming.
Kim, I love that description! My own personal season is approaching the 'autumnal; now if only I could be 'regal, stately, elegant and fun'.
We're supposed to have a more summer-like day tomorrow and then back to autumnal again for midweek. I love fall, especially the leaves, but they won't change here for another few weeks.
I think at this point, I'll settle for fun. I've not yet managed regal, stately or elegant ;-) Oh, and that reminds me of a cartoon that I've been meaning to write about - the Three Ages of Woman: Horses, Hormones, Horticulture
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