Monthly Archives: September 2016

I love the Fall bloomers. Not only do they herald cooler temperatures but all have unique flowers!

Colchicum: like a giant Fall crocus

Lycoris: often called Hurricane Lilies in The South as they bloom during the season.

Hidden ginger – Curcuma petiolata

Blue mist flower: Conoclinium coelestinum

Pampas grass: these sharped leaves grasses can reach eight feet in a moist location.

Blood lilies

Crinum

And visitors to the patio from the garden.

And my favorite, passionflower Incense

Clematis seed heads

Autumn clematis – very fragrant but a heavy vine. This is a six-foot metal lamp post. The vines are cut back to two leaf-nodes in November and grow through the winter such that they are five to six feet in length by spring. The reseed around the garden to the point of weediness.

I have had problems with my Black Dragon crossvine. A large limb fell last January in a snow and ice storm and pulled the 40 foot vines from the Loblolly pine. I cut them back expecting the rapid growth replace them in one season. Something has eaten them to the ground each time they have reached a few feet up the tree. I wrapped hardware mesh around the tree to protect the vines.

The cooler nights are perfect for walking around downtown Raleigh.

And the seasons change.

August has seemed to dryer than normal and I have given up on the vegetable garden. I will clean out the tomatoes and chills soon and plant Fall veggies.

The Fall blooming season has begun!

I love the flowering gingers – Hedychium

Morning glories are encouraged by the cooler nights.

Figs love Eastern North Carolina.  They become large, multi-trunked shrubs and are loaded with fruit. You have a fight the birds to get some.

Rose-of-Sharon’s reseed like weeds here!  I never throw them away. I have rows of them along the fences. The surprise with new flower colors and forms when they become old enough to bloom!

Blood lilies are a unique Fall bloomer. These are at JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University. The voles in my neighborhood have eaten the ones in my garden!

Four-o’-clocks will continue to bloom nightly until the first frost which is around Thanksgiving.

With temps near 100 and no rain large-leaved plants like viburnum and hydrangea have dropped many their leaves.

With cooler nights we can walk around downtown and attend events more comfortably! I love the First Friday Art Walks where the galleries stay open late and there are bands outside around downtown.

City Market is the old 1900s cobble-stoned farmers market which is now home to small locally-owned shops.

Old storefronts have been re purposed into craft beer and food restaurants.

And there is a festival every weekend! This weekend it’s Hopscotch Music Festival – http://hopscotchmusicfest.com

Hmmm, whiskey…. at Ruby Deluxe

And butterflies!

And finally news about Gus. A few months ago his lung cancer had spread and two new tumors had appeared. We switched treatments. The original tumors had not grown but the two new tumors have grown 30%! I have decided to stop the chemo treatment and will only manage any pain or discomfort relying on the doctor’s advice when it’s time to euthanize him. He is about 9 years old and has had a good life!

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