Marigolds for Mama

Late Summer Hues ...

I've noticed a change in our garden's palette these past few weeks. The vibrant greens have been subdued, and the fiery reds and yellows have been replaced by a subtler set of cool autumn-like colors. I snapped some pictures while I filled the feeders today, on what turned out to be a golden afternoon ...

Wild thistle that grows along the drive ~ a weedy patch the birds and dragonflies love.

A pretty little yellow flower (weed?) growing by the thistle.

An overgrown bed out front - but that purply grass is something!

More scrubby weeds, but I really like the shade of these leaves.

These might be the last few cones left on our spruce; the rest went to squirrels!

The blue hydrangea out front is turning a lovely lavender shade.

While the chrysanthemums are a true orchid!

Our golden raspberries are just coming in ...

I liked the shapes in this wild grass (or weeds or something).

More neat shapes in the grassy area by the back fence. ("Grassy area" sounds nicer than weed patch, don't you think?)

I believe this is pokeweed - and poisonous!

A beautiful young goldfinch watched me snapping away. These birds are starting to turn drab.

The afternoon sun coming through the canopy. I love the way the light plays on the leaves.

Some pretty fairy-like weed.

A cardinal feather lying atop a hydrangea leaf.

And so summer is ending, but the autumn garden will see a riot of vibrant hues before winter snuffs it all out for good. I hope to post more here now that the season's are turning ... :)

We've Got One!

A raspberry, that is!

We all took a nibble and it was very good! :)

What are the Squirrels Up To?

Well, funny you should ask! Here's a peek at the most recent squirrel antics:

Here is Red Tail who was making a royal ruckus this morning, all up and down the tree with his partner-in-crime, Red Face. The dispute quickly boiled over after I threw a bunch of toast crusts out the dining room window ... Red Tail held his ground and reaped the spoils after I shut the window. :)

Here's Tough Nut making herself RIGHT at home ... I don't even bother anymore with this feeder. The squirrels take their share and there's still plenty left for the songbirds. And besides who can resist this kind of comedy?

All three squirrel species are represented here - red, black and gray! This is unusual. Usually the red is chasing off the black and the black is chasing off the gray. They must have reached a truce. Or perhaps they worked together to get that tube feeder down (though I think that was racoons).

And here's the latest member of our squirrel family! This is one of those Audubon stuffed animals that makes its distinct call when you squeeze it. We have several of the birds, but we were very pleased to discover the company is now making squirrels! Well it only makes sense. If you're watching the birds, you're going to end up watching the squirrels too!

I'll be posting more about what we do with all these puppets and stuffed animals at By Sun and Candlelight. Let's just say it is a very fun way to do nature study with the younger ones! :)

A Visit to Damee's

We paid a visit to my grandmother, Damee, earlier in the week. While we were there, I took the boys on a tour of her yard, pointing out all the places where I played as a child - the pool and garden yard, the blueberry hill, the "deep" woods and the "long" slope ... Here are their pictures, this week's Friday Photos:

"This is the root of Queen Anne's Lace that we found in our great grandmother's backyard. We were trying to look for the white carrot root but it didn't seem to have formed yet. Maybe we'll check again later in the summer. We'd really like to see one! Do any of you know how to tell if it has the white carrot before pulling it up?"

"These are juniper berries. When Mama was little she used to think they were blueberries, but the real blueberries grew up on the hill."

"This a mushroom we found on a log out in her backyard. It's a strange shape isn't it? Maybe something ate part of it."

"This is a firefly that was on a leaf right next to the mushroom. We think it was looking for food."

"We'll have to look up this kind of mushroom; it's another one we don't know. As you can see, it was growing right out of the side of a birch tree!"

"This is a blue jay feather that we found on the ground. When you hold it in the light just right it becomes sky blue but most of the time it looks dark gray with just a hint of blue."

Damee lives just outside of the city of Boston so in a way, this post also goes along with our Urban Wildlife trail ... :)

Late Summer Signs

I don't mean to rush things, but it's fun to look for signs of change in nature ...

The burning bush is just tinged with pink (it will be fully red in the fall).

The chrysanthemums are in bud ...

The sunflowers are ready to burst ...

Sadly, summer storms have flattened parts of the garden ...

St. Joseph's Staff

Also known as the Hollyhock, or Althea rosea:

I've wanted hollyhocks in our garden for so long ~ this is a happy day! Plus, I found another great article about Mary gardens ...

Hoping for Hollyhocks

My favorite kind of flowers are the old-fashioned ones you would find in a cottage garden ~ foxglove, climbing roses, peonies and hollyhocks ...

Well, for the first time ever, we appear to have successfully grown hollyhocks! Ours are growing in front of our potting shed, and there are *a lot* of buds ... here's one showing just a glimpse of its true color:

It promises a pretty shade of pink! I hope my hollyhocks grow up as lovely as the ones at Teri's family farm! :)

And Now for a Bit O' the Green

Recently I've showcased some of the blues in our garden, well, on this morning's walk I focused on all of the green!

A white hydrangea blossom just beginning ...

A white hyrdrangea blossom almost fully open ...

A hollyhock bud caught in the early light ...

A sunflower bud, like a little star, getting bigger each day ...

A few fairy umbrellas set among the greenery ...

Peonies & Blue Indigo

As promised a while back, here are the photos I took of my parents' peonies and blue indigo. These plants have been in their yard since I was a little girl ...

The blue indigo is a division of a plant that grows in my grandparents' yard. I hope to transplant some in our yard next spring.

And for good measure, here is a closeup of the white wildflower blooming in the background. This too has been around for years and it grows prolifically all over their yard:

More Blue in the Garden ...

Well, they will be blue given a bit more time ...

I just love Blue (or French) Hydrangeas! Paired with the white/pink variety, they were the base of my bridesmaids' bouquets - the dusky blue and deep crimson matched the October day beautifully. For more on the nature (and science) of blue hydrangeas, please see Jenn's post at Family in Feast and Feria. Hers are in full bloom and are just lovely!