Dinner(plate) is served!

A bright "dinner-plate" dahlia, about 8 inches (roughly 20 centimeters) in diameter, adorned our dining table last night:

A few slightly smaller flowers, one in pure white and another in a stunning double-color pattern:

You never know what you might get from these bulb grab-bags, but these seem to be worth saving at the end of the season.

Sedum in bloom

As fall sets in and the plants prepare for a winter vacation, this sedum is hogging attention from a nice, shady spot between some taller shrubs:

Vertical garden mania

I am seeing vertical gardens much more frequently these days. Here is one in the lobby of the Westin-BWI hotel in Baltimore, Maryland:

This one is from the international airport at Mumbai, India:

And an impressively tall one from the Museum of Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts:

'Tis the season for winter berries

Fresh berries on our dogwood, while the oaks shed their acorns in a constant staccato attack on our roof! Where are those pesky squirrels and chipmunks when you need them?

Jasmine!

One of our jasmines took to the deck atmosphere better than being cooped up indoors, and has just started blooming:

One man went to mow...

As I powered up my lawn mower, I was suddenly reminded of the song I learned in fourth grade or so:

One man went to mow... 

Went to mow a meadow, 

One man and his dog, 

Went to mow a meadow.

Please supply your own tune to go with the words above :-)

Even the most scraggly and patchy grass looks like a manicured lawn after a fresh mow!

Merry and golden

Marigolds at home in their planters:

The occasional rains have compensated for my lack of attention to the watering:

Moringa

The name has a musical ring to it. The beginnings of a moringa (Moringa oleifera) tree, started from seeds:

The three saplings will have to remain in pots and shunted between the indoors and the outdoors, given the climate in Boston. This might curtail or probably eliminate their fruit output, but the leaves are still a major nutrient factory. The fruit pods, known as drumsticks in India, are a culinary favorite. A sample image is shown below:

The native name in Tamil (a language from South India) is murungakkai:

Pyramid scheme in the kitchen garden

Presenting, a pyramid scheme that is delicious rather than dangerous:

Fall colors of a different kind

As we wait in anticipation of the customary leaf color changes, here are some floral colors that are persevering as the yard begins to get colder:

Sunshine on the deck

A lone sunflower in a pot last season fell back into the pot and generated numerous plants this year. Here's the first bloom:

Here's a different variety that prefers height. A long-shot that puts the height into perspective, and a close-up:

Here is a very nice image of a sunflower seedling yet to shake off the seed coat:

Late-Summer Roses

Sudden burst of color after a dormant stretch. Perhaps it was the rains!

Sunlight mystery

Here's an intriguing outcome: I split a batch of Wandering Jew (Tradescantia pallid) into two identical pots and placed them near a window that faces the east. I watered them sporadically but equally. The pots are sitting under the same grow light. Yet one grows vigorously while the other remains small. Also, the leaves in the pot on the left show a lot of green on the top, while the leaves in the pot to the right are pink on both sides. Any thoughts on why this is happening? Is it the angle of sunlight, maybe?

The Green Deck-Pantry

Some Malabar spinach (Basella alba) off the creeper, and chard (Beta vulgaris), from the containers on our deck: