Food for Thought

While the summer harvest has ended, it's time to look forward to fall. Our grapevine above is showing signs of impending dormancy. After the leaves fall, I'll remove the critter netting.

This picture shows a branch of the guava tree, hanging perilously close to the ground. It's because it is weighted down with fruit.

We've got hundreds of fruit, like this pair, that will be ready soon.

This nice size example will probably be first.

Our citrus will provide another mediocre crop this year. The tangelo is starting to show some color. We'll be eating this around Christmas.

I've got a few tomatoes to eat this week...

...and we literally cannot keep up with the massive productions of chiles we have this year. Here's a plate we're drying out on the patio.  A lot are just falling to the ground because we just can't pick 'em or eat 'em fast enough. 

That's a problem I'd like to have on all of our food plants.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

More Fall Follies...

Still getting some rose bloom here just before Halloween. That's Peace, up above. We don't know the name of the yellow one below.

I'm still ripping and tearing up my lawn, getting ready for the big reseeding next month. That's a huge chore and is a lot of work. I'm just about done with the aeration, next will be the ultra-short mow and the overseeding.

My fall zucchini is coming along fine. Actually, three plants have popped up but I think this will be the one to give me fruit.

You can see some buds coming up from the middle. Hope to see flowers and gourds here soon.

More cymibiums are setting flower spikes.

Finally, it looks like our begonia is getting ready to bloom.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

The Fall Harvest Preview

Look at that...just look at that! A home-grown tomato! Finally, at the Cheapskate's garden, it looks like we'll get some full-size tomatoes from our garden.

We've also got a good bloom of Dragon fruit flower. As you can see, the ants really like it. So do the bees. Hope to have some fruit soon.

The orchid bench will soon be the focus of our efforts.

This cymbidium is showing the first flower spike of the season.

This kalanchoe daigremontiana is our best volunteer. It's coming out of it's host again.

That host? It's this Christmas cactus that will have another spectacular display for the holidays.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

The Days of Wine and Roses

While we break open a nice red for these crisp fall days, the roses are giving us their last hurrah.

At the top is Peace, which we grow as a tree rose.

Here's Julie Newmar with one last flush of yellow before the end of the season.

As of September 30, the roses are on their own. No more deadheading, no more fertilizer. Now, it's up to the plants to store food in their rose hips to get themselves over the cold weather of November and December.

Soon, they'll all look just like this Angel Face and go just a bit semi-dormant until pruning in January.

 

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.