October Flowers and Garden Zone 4

Our average frost date is September 29. But we are far from having a frost. We have had a beautiful two weeks.  We even had a couple of days where the temperature reached 90 degrees. But the nights get down to about 45 so the days seem cooler. And the forecast is for another week of 70 degrees.  It is amazing how much you can get done with weather like that. I set out to reset one stone in my rock pathways.  One stone lead to another, which lead to some non-wanted plant removal, which lead to some changes to the yellow gate. And so it went.

This area is next to the tree, in between the garden and the house. I reset several of these stones and inter-planted them with low growing plants.

This is a new bed. I’ll tell you later what I removed and why. I just planted 2 Royal raspberries. They are a cross between a hardy red raspberry and a large purple raspberry. A friend gave them to me. He says the berries are large and delicious. Beyond the gate I have a strip of red raspberries.  I love berry bushes they don’t require spraying. Years ago I grew apricots, a peach tree, quince, plums. They had too many problems and I don’t spray, so after harvesting some crops I removed the trees.   Raspberries are also a good use of your real estate. Have you seen the price of them in the store. And they are so easy to grow.

At the base of the large, old Elm tree is this little area.  There is a bit of petrified wood, some neat rocks and the carving in the middle is supposed to be cave dwellers hunting a bear. In our area we have petro glyphs or ancient wall drawings. But his is not an artifact. A local man made this and gave it to Ted. It’s amazing how many people think it is the “real thing”. 

The pots on the fire pit are plants that I am readying to bring indoors right before the freeze.


Several of the roses are still blooming. In the morning when the air and temperature is just right the fragrance wafts through the garden.  “Chocolate” green peppers are still growing. This large squash grew on top of the the back arbor. I have another growing on top of the side arbor. I hope they taste good.
As beautiful as this fall is, it is also a busy work time. As some of you know I set up shopping accounts for families for an eco-friendly catalog company. Sort of an online natural foods and supplies store. Normally it is $29 to become a member and we save 30 to 40% versus local store prices.  But this month it is only $1.   - I like what I do! I get to help others use safer products and save money and I am able to stay home and play in the garden.