The gardening season winds down

But ever so slowly! Mother Nature is fooling her own as the flora grapple with the unseasonably warm weather (the high today is about 73 degrees Fahrenheit, or roughly 23 degrees Celcius).

To bloom or not to bloom, that is the question.

I have a yellow rose in bloom, and some pink rose buds in the works. The dahlias are doing better than ever, with each plant sporting three or four flowers instead of one or two. The deer are staying warm at home, leaving the unattended and unprotected flowers alone.

There is also a profusion of yellow from one bush that I do not remember planting. It looks like a Black-eyed Susan, but the ones I planted are long done for the season:

Here is an unexpected harvest of beans from our deck:

The tomatoes are also yet to disappear, with many green bunches still hanging off the vines as the leaves slowly whither away.

The pesky chipmunks are cleverer, though. They are skittering around the yard in a frenetic rush to store more acorns. They are also using the delayed winter to explore my yard in greater detail, burrowing humongous holes in yet-to-be-staked territory. Like they say in America: "Drill, baby, drill!" 

A "Deer Diary" moment

It appears to have now become a bit too cold for the deer to venture about freely, and they have finally left the hardy hibiscus alone long enough to produce a couple of buds! An entire summer of deer salad existence is thus vindicated just ephemerally in the fall!

I have high hopes for the second bud too, seen below as it just prepares to unfurl:

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:

Tomatoes!

Some decent success, as always, with the tomatoes:

How do they get those entirely ripened tomatoes on vine in the grocery stores? They always ripen one at a time in my yard!

Zinnia 'Scarlet Flame'

From a packet-full of seeds, the chipmunks spared three Zinnia elegans plants. Their perseverance has paid off in the form of two bright flowers:

The protective hardware mesh made for some interesting close-up shots!

Closely bunched

Sedum (left) and garlic chive (Allium tuberosum) blossoms (right):

Pretty weeds

Or are they? The deer leave them alone, so they MUST be weeds 😑