Fall Is In The Air!

This will be a note sort of post-not a lot new here at Dragonfly Corner. But I am getting tired of looking at my last post, so I am sure you are! I have worked some extra days this week, had a couple of doctor appointments, (more on that another time) and have been trying to get a little fall cleaning done. In other words, time has been in short supply for enjoying the garden, taking pictures or writing posts. I did want to share a few things with you and writing gives me a good excuse to sit for a while. I did manage to finally put a picture in my header. Wendy suggested I use the moonflower-aka 'heavenly blue' morning glory. It is still blooming and I see no end to the buds.

Fall is here. Or at least these butterscotch mums think so. The temperature dropped to 48 degrees last night so it is on it's way. This is one of my favorite colors for this time of year. Makes you think of football and pumpkins doesn't it?

There are very few cone flowers left. This one is still attracting moths and butterflies. I'm not sure, and this is not a great picture, but I think this is called a wolf moth. Most have gone to seed like the one on the right. I had thought about cutting the heads off to save the seed and cleaning up some of the stalks, but one of the bloggers(can't remember who-sorry) has suggested leaving them for the finches and other birds to enjoy. Sounds like a great idea to me!

The 'teddy bear' sunflowers, courtesy of Cheryl, are still blooming. These have been a delightful flower. They have bloomed all summer long, the blooms last for weeks at a time and the butterflies and bees have loved them. I am going to save some of these seeds for myself.

Speaking of butterflies-the zinnias are still blooming and attracting more than their share of butterflies. The 'painted ladies' have been thicker in the gardens this year than I can ever remember. It could be because of the zinnias. I have really enjoyed them this year and plan on planting more next year. Maybe I will even use some for cut flowers. This year, I couldn't bring myself to cut any of them.

I was a little disappointed at this picture. The caladium leaves are a much deeper red than shows. I have the container sitting in front of the morning glory and the contrast is striking. In the past, I have neglected to dig my bulbs up for the winter thinking it was just as easy to buy new the next spring. This year, I plan on at least trying to save them. (and still buying more next year!)

You may have seen a spider like this on Gail's blog a while back. It's a Argiope aurantia-female. In the comments, several different names were mentioned. It seems this species covers a wide area and there were lots of local names for it. My grandmother always called it and 'educated' spider I think because of the z's it makes in the middle of it's web. What ever you call it, I call it yucky! There are several of them around the house and in the gardens. Now, having been converted by some of you bloggers, I let them stay and do their thing as long as they do it outside. Now if they try to come into the house....

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Fall will be a busy time for all. The gardener has much to do to get the garden ready for it's long winters nap. Have I started yet-no. Have you?

Enjoy your gardens!

Summer Delights!

Cone flowers are one of the true delights in the summer. You plant one and before you know it you have a whole bed full of the tall, stately, regal blooms.Heads held high, their crowns eagerly await the pollinators.

A corner bed now full to overflowing,

A very brave rabbit dared to sit in the open this afternoon. So far, I have noticed no damage from them.

A couple more day lilies have opened today. This is 'purple d'oro'.

No name for this one, but it is standing on a scape that is almost 3' tall.

This is 'wineberry candy'. But she is not opening-I watched her all day. She looks more like a tulip. We'll she if she finishes opening tomorrow, but I have a feeling this was her day. Hopefully the next buds will open all the way. She is new this year and I am excited to see her in her full glory.

I planted purple and yellow gladiolas this year, spreading them through out the garden in small groupings. I wonder is this one got in by mistake, or is this going to be the color of all the purples? Either way, this one is eye catching.

My zinnia seedlings are starting to bloom. I planted several packets of mixed and was surprised when the first ones were all pink. Now I have this one and a couple of white. Do certain colors bloom first? Or was this just a coincidence?

Sunflowers but so far no bees. Maybe I just am not out there when they come.

This is the other dwarf 'teddy' sunflower I mentioned last time. While the first one was only 6" tall and had a bloom of 2", this one is 3' tall with a bloom 6" across. Both beautiful!

And finally, another photo of the corn . It is standing a good 4' tall now. Certainly "knee high by the 4th of July"!

Another busy, busy week coming up. Work, seeing to a contract for selling my Dad's place, watering the garden( hot and mostly dry is forecast for all week) and last but not least, getting the house ready for weekend company. Posting may not get done, but visiting my favorite blogs is always on my list of to dos.

" Walking into darkness on a summer night watching the stars,

As they pass by faster than a shooting star,

So if ever you are out on a hot summer night in July,

Don't let the night stars pass you by."

by Bernice Rush


Enjoy your hot July nights watching the stars!

Many $$$$ Later, I Am Back!

I am back! At the end of my last post I explained my computer was broken and would need repairs. Sadly, it could not be fixed, and it is going to take a miracle to get all my picture off the hard drive and on to discs.

My dear Hubby, knowing how addicted I am to blogging and how much pleasure I derive from my computer has bought me a new one. It is another Gateway laptop. In the 3 years since we got the other one, they have changed! This one is much lighter, it vents out the side so my lap doesn't get as warm, and it has 'Windows Vista' instead of Windows 98. I know I am getting older and it takes me longer to learn something new, but I don't care for Vista. It is not as user friendly and it doesn't have spell check while on the Internet. Oh, I could type my commentary into notes or some other window and spell check ten capture and copy-but that seems like a lot more work than should be necessary. For now, I'll just be happy that I am connected again.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th. We saw fire works with our daughter, son-in-law and 2 of the granddaughters. A small town near here puts on quite a display every year. This year we thought they were exceptional!

I do have a few flowers to share.

This is a dwarf sunflower, 'Teddy Bear' that I planted from seed sent from England by Cheryl. This one is only about 6" tall, but another one in a sunnier spot is about 2' tall-soon to bloom.

This is a new day lily this year ordered off the Internet. I'm not sure, now, but I think this is 'Little Business'. It amazes me how I can lose the tags with names. Before blogging I didn't save them, now I am trying to keep everything and writing in my garden journal the names and where they are planted. This one doesn't fit any of the descriptions. Oh well, it's still very pretty.

This may be the same variety, no name again, but it seems like I remember dividing one of the starts. I'm not sure what is going on with the petals-will wait to see what the next bloom looks like.

I have a lot of visiting and post reading to catch up on. And, I am sooooo looking forward to it. Hope your gardens are doing well, and the weeds are dying!