garden journal: almost fall

i didn't really thin there was anything new and exciting to share in the yard.  we're in between seasons here and everything just seems a little worn around the edges.  but that just isn't true.  for example, i really feel like I haven't done this avalanche of morning glories justice.  it is just so thick and blooms so profusely.  it's amazing knowing that all this came from a few little seeds.

i have often wondered what creatures munch on my morning glories.  this guy strolled out of their depths and i think he might be the culprit.  i swear he is texas sized.  and since he is so handsome, i am more than willing to share a little buggy salad.

this weed i found growing in the mess that is the front flower bed.  i was ecstatic.  isn't it a beauty?  the blossoms are tiny, perhaps thumb sized, and green and grow on a vine.  the flower looks quite a lot like a passion flower, but the leaves are completely different.  i am anxious to figure out how to save it forever and ever.  i love it so.  maybe i can dig it up and keep it in a pot?  try to save some seeds?  i hope i can figure out what it is.  i must investigate online this weekend.  maybe i can find some weed propagating advice.  ;)

mums.  ba humbug.  i've never loved them, but i brought a few little ones home, because they were on sale and i thought they'd add some nice fall color the front.  then my neighbor told me that they don't naturally bloom in the fall.  these will just come back in the spring for a brief period of time and then be done for the year.  they are sold blooming in the fall, because they're forced into a fall blooming season in commercial greenhouses.  hmph.  plus, i'm about to come to the conclusion that i don't so much care about the front yard.  we park in the back and use the back door.  i can't even remember to water things in the front yard.  i'd better stick to low maintenance shrubs up there.  besides, the kitties seem to think this area is a public potty.  yep.  bushes is what's needed there.

the coneflowers have been done for a couple months probably.  i've left the seed heads, because i heard the birds enjoy them.  it was kinda fun to spy this one little flower blooming in there.

and then i wanted to take a photo of these purple flowers my sister in law in florida had given me.  they've gotten as tall as hers!  imagine my utter delight as i was snapping away to realize there was a hummingbird in my frame!  eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  normaly he is very skittish, but since i was already standing there, i guess he just didn't notice me.  happy happy happy day!

i am loving the sedums.  i want lots more.  this is a true fall bloomer that i can give my heart to.

and i thought i saw a monarch butterfly.  it flew away too quick for me to react with the lens.  then i saw this one in the zinnias and thought maybe i was wrong.  but then i saw orange flitting about in the front yard while i was in the backyard photographing this one, so perhaps it really was a monarch.  i have been looking for them.  it seems like it's been years since i've seen one and now i am on a mission.  i just found out that they migrate through tennessee in the spring and fall (in florida, we had them practically all year long), so maybe i'll get lucky.  I've got my eyes peeled!

linking up with manneskjur and how "does your garden grow?"

roadside attractions: nature's canvas

i began seeing these beauties on the side of the road in mid-august and, of course, had to stop for a closer look and a photo shoot.  turns out it is milkweed, an extremely important plant in the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.  hooray for environmentally friendly family farms where weeds are allowed to thrive, nurture insects, and continue the circle of life.

these first photos were all taken on the same day as my previous post, but along another country road.  the last six photos in this series were taken in the EXACT SAME SPOT as these milkweed photos, just three weeks later.  nature is such an amazing quick change artist.

same spot, three weeks later!

roadside attractions: high summer on highway 109

being a single mom without immediate family in the state, i haven't gotten much alone time in the last ten years.  here lately, g's dad has decided to keep him on occasion.  okay, twice so far.  it amuses me that as soon as g's gone i feel at loose ends.  i can't seem to get a focus on what i should do with myself.  on both instances i've had the sudden urge to run out and take wildflower photos, and then i've been able to settle in to being productive with my free time.  i guess i just feel more grounded out in nature.

these were taken in an abandoned cow field on highway 109.  it's at the end of a dead end road where the cops like to hang out and chat and snag a few speeders now and then.  i'm not gonna lie.  i've been caught there before.  oops.

the goldenrod was just starting to bloom.  i should go take pictures again.  now the fields are just ablaze with it.  my son's allergies are not appreciative, but it sure is beautiful.

here is the gate i hopped.  i simply could not resist the promise of flowers nodding in the distance.  i was very careful to check for cows first.  i was not as careful of the ticks and brought home two of those.  ugh.

it was still early enough in the morning for the sunlight to be simply amazing.

more fascination with oversized seed pods.

more fascination with architectural plants.

such soft delicate ferns hiding in the grass.  i wonder how it would do if i brought one home with me.

thistle.

pokeweed.

i also have a thing for photographing foliage on fence lines.

morning glories.

coolness.

transitioning from high summer to almost fall.

these had already closed up for the heat of the day, but were still beautiful.

a whole lot of happy.

linking up with annie at manneskjur for how does your garden grow?