Today is one of those absolutely perfect late summer/early fall days. The sun is out, there isn’t a cloud in the sky, and the cold temperatures of this morning have given way to warm, almost hot conditions this afternoon. In other words, it is an absolutely perfect day to get out and garden.
Fall may have technically started earlier this week, but my garden didn’t seem to get the memo. While I would normally start pulling plants at this time of year, everything seems not only to be in full bloom, but also sprouting new buds! So rather than pull plants, I did some weeding and pruning that will make the process of putting the garden to bed a little easier a few weeks from now.
And because I had so much fun in and amongst the gorgeousness of some of my plants this afternoon, I had to share a few photos . . . As much as I curse my roses every single time I need to deadhead or prune, when they are in full bloom, I just can’t get enough of them . . . which I suppose is why I keep planting more and more of them in my garden.
And the dahlias are absolutely gorgeous right now. For some reason this year they weren’t ravaged by slugs despite not using any sort of slug bait or slug deterrent.
By far, though, I spent the most time amongst my tomato plants. Right now, they look a lot like a metaphor for my life . . . branching out in every and all direction, some stalks bearing copious amounts of fruit, other none at all. Must like I’m pruning back parts of my life that haven’t/aren’t bearing much fruit, the tomato plants needed a good prune too. And they got one! And no, I didn’t use tomato cages. Which in retrospect I now have a great appreciation for. Why didn’t I use them??? Simple. A year or two ago, during one of my great garage clean-outs, I tossed all the cages we had inherited from the family that owed our house before us (they were great gardeners that maintained a large vegetable garden). I’ve put other things in the place where I once stored them, and wasn’t sure where I’d put them after this year. So I thought I’d let the plants go and see what happened. I didn’t think they’d end up in this much of a tangle!!
As for the melons . . . well, I think they’re just about ready to pick. If only the local squirrels/raccoons/ground hog would stop eating the baby melons (and pumpkins for that matter), we would have had a bumper crop! But as it stands, we only have 2 left on the vine, a few more little ones that likely won’t have enough time to mature before the cold weather hits, and quite a few tiny ones that have been knocked off the vines.
It’s days like this that have to be absolutely savoured . . . they’re the ones we’ll miss most when the weather turns cold and damp and the sunlight isn’t quite so bright. Hope you’re out and enjoying every last drop of today!!
nancyhotson 
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