October Garden

     Just a few pictures of flowers and shrubs still doing their thing in my October Garden.
Dahlia Vancouver sure took it's time to bloom, as usual, but it is blooming now and the hibiscus still has a few flowers on it even though all the leaves have fallen off. The zinnias continue to amaze me even though they have powdery mildew. The cosmos are still looking blooming and look so pretty with raindrops or morning dew.

Dahlia Vancouver

Dahlias

Hibiscus

Morning glory

Zinnia State Fair

Burning Bush

Bright Burning Bush Leaf

Fall Display

Cosmos

Cosmos

Autumn Colour

Here are just a few pictures I took in late October in my yard. 

Burning Bush

Morning glory flowers 

Viburnum Leaves so orderly 

Viburnum Leaves

Burning Bush

Dicentra Luxuriant still blooming

A late blooming Cosmos

Maple

August Garden

        August has arrived and along with it the temperatures have gone up. It's also been smoky the last few days, from all the forest fires burning in BC. If nothing else, the smoke keeps it a little bit cooler out there.
    A couple of years ago I bought a few milkweed plants, a pink variety and a white. The pink ones didn't survive the winter but the white ones did. They grew slowly and barely bloomed, so I moved them last fall and this year they have been flourishing. I haven't seen any butterflies around yet but the bees seem to like it too.
     I planted two different packages of cosmos this year. A mix called Cosmos Mini Blend and Capriola. I really like the look of the Capriola but the Cosmos mini blend are more vigorous and have many more blooms.
      One of our local garden stores closed their doors recently and I am sad to see them go. I picked up a few plants on sale, and squeezed them into my yard. One of them was Veronica or Speedwell and the other was a fragrant honeysuckle vine. The vine has been sulking but the veronica is blooming.  Happy Gardening!
   

Milkweed

Cosmos Mini Blend

Cosmos Capriola

Drumstick Allium

Daylily

Daylily Strawberry Candy

Hollyhock

Coral Palace Purple Palace

Veronica

Our cat Oliver

A Photographer's View of my Garden

     A few weeks ago my daughter came by to visit and she brought along her camera to take some photos of my garden. It's interesting to have someone else take photos of my yard and to see the results because she took some photos that I would never think to take. Plus she's an amazing photographer and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom, ha ha. I'll add the link to her website at the end. I am growing a new variety of peas this year, called Dwarf grey sugar, from West Coast Seeds. They are a heirloom variety with purple flowers. I have been picking them beyond the snow pea stage because my family picky eaters and they won't eat snow peas. They are still good though not quite as sweet as some. I grew the lettuce from seeds I saved last year. I'm almost surprised they grew, since this is the first time I ever tried saving their seed.

    My daughter loves peonies, so she took a lot of photos of my Sarah Bernhardt peonies. I wish I had more varieties of these pretty flowers but my yard is very full. I gave her some to take home and she made them look amazing, as always. She has a gift for photography and for arranging flowers. If you are interested in seeing more of her photos, here is the link to her website: Alyssa's Photography Website

Dwarf Grey Sugar Snow Peas

Lettuce

Mixed Onions

Plum

Peony Sarah Bernhardt 

Peony

Peonies my daughter took home and arranged

Peonies my daughter arranged 

Cosmos Mini Blend 

Elderberry flowers

Fleabane in the front

Veggie garden in the front

Hazelnut leafing out after we had it cut down

Persicaria

Sedum

Viburnum and Lilac

Yarrow