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 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.

Changing of the Guard in Southern California

The last two plants to bloom for 2012... an orange begonia and our Christmas cactus which, of course, blooms at this time each year.

While Mrs. Cheapskate inspects the chile peppers, let's see what the garden has for us this weekend.

These chiles are almost black but should soon turn red.

The lavender makes an end-of-the-year stand.

And, finally, our phaleanopsis is showing signs of cold shock so we'll move it inside for the winter.

After our super short Southern California winter, we'll put it back outside, probably sometime in February.  Not much to do in the garden right now...I have a repair to make on our wooden berm that protects the front yard rose garden, then in about a month, it'll be time to prune the roses.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Thinking of Gardening on a Rainy Day

It never rains in Southern California, a big 70's rock song says, so I don't know what this wet stuff is falling on my head.  I kid...but we've got a 6-day stretch of rain this weekend that's keeping me from the garden.

In between squalls, I was able to go out and take a picture of our fabulous fall rose bloom in the front yard garden against the Christmas decorations at the top. Below is another, more rose centric, picture of the same spot.

In other news, I was able to start harvesting our winter fruit from our tiny little citrus grove (three trees).

Across the top of the bowl, from left to right, a cara cara navel orange, a tangelo, and a Meyer lemon. Cut open in front is another cara cara, displaying the very tasty red flesh it's famous for.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.

On the Road With The Cheapskate...Fall Color in Northern California

While Southern California has little fall color, there is quite a bit more up in the cooler north. No, it's not Maine or the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it sure is pretty. Above is a Zinfandel grape vine at Villa Toscano Winery in the Shenandoah Valley of the Sierra Foothills.

How to you know when you've reached Northern California? Well, this planting in the center divider of highway 99 near Fresno will tell you. The palm to the south, the pine to the north...this is the boundary between Southern and Northern California (look for it at exit 150).

We're visiting the wine country of the Sierra Foothill, specifically Amador County about 50 miles east of Lodi.  This is California's oldest continuously operating winery (since 1856), the Sobon Estate.

They still use this original wine cave, dug into the hill, to age wines 156 years later.

At the top of a nearby hill, the Shenandoah Vineyard has this nice, arbor shaded picnic area.

This is also the Motherlode, California's Gold Country. John Marshall discovered gold here just up the road at Sutter's Mill. Dozens of historic gold mining towns dot the landscape. This is Amador City.

 

Now, back to home and tilling my own garden.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.