first frost

Last night. I had just planted out more of my new plants during the day- slender mountain mint, sedum and New England aster on the larger sunny sideyard. (Probably the last will get eaten by the deer, though I'm taking the chance. These plants much bigger than the ones I tried setting out before, if that makes any difference). They'd been in the mini greenhouse until now, I still have the bergamot and American beautyberry in there. Undecided where to put them. Have a full week of sun and warmer nights up ahead, so I can take my time. I planted the elephant's foot out on the easement, near where there's yellow salvia, ferns and solomon's seal under a maple. 

Brought some of the plants into the basement window for the night: all the geraniums. They're looking better since the temperatures dropped this past week. I think because it killed off some of the insects that were plaguing them.

The citronella is still one of my favorites. 

Lime scented one is upstairs

next to the stevia. Which surprised me by sprouting tiny new leaves at base of some stems.

My one echeveria 

It's still quite small for the pot size

Doing quite poorly is my cuban oregano. Leaves are all small, tons have dropped from the lower stems. Not sure why, though I suspect insects again. Planning to clip all this back and restart in another pot.

I did a drastic thing to our big schefflera in the dining room window. Cut all the leggy tall stems, and replanted in the pot. I did one first about two weeks ago, dipped the end in rooting hormone, and watched to see if the leaves would die and fall off, or if it would recover and sprout new growth. It appears to be doing the latter! So I went ahead and pruned, replanted all the other tall stems:

Window feels very exposed now, to say the least.

some stuff

I was going to call this post "all the squirmy wormies" but then started writing about more than just the worms, so. 

I realized that along with a bit of houseplant and fish tank neglect, I had been ignoring my worms lately, too. Had not fed them in a long while. Which actually made emptying the bin easier- they had been comsuming their bedding so really there was only a layer of carboard chips on the top to remove, the rest was mostly finished vermicompost. I didn't sort out the worms and unfinished bits by shaking through a handmade sifter like usual- the bottom two-thirds of the bin was too damp, and very compacted. 

Instead I loosened it up by hand and then picked out the bits of still-recognizable cardboard, and the individual worms that hadn't been in the first handfuls out of the feeding corner, or off the top layer. It was just a few hours, over two days, spent sitting by the bin carefully going through it. I didn't see any worm eggs. but there were plenty of tiny baby worms, so they've been breeding not so long ago. Worms in my hand.

Some are yellowish, but not too many. None of the worms felt tacky, they all had good moisture and most are healthy pink. I did notice lately it had been drier, so at that point I had sprinkled in some water, and started feeding them again hoping they'd all move to that corner. It never works completely, there's always more worms to pick out of the rest of the bin. I'm sure if I just kept the ones scooped out of the top layer and food area, that's plenty to keep the population going. But I still feel like "rescuing" as many as I can, knowing those that get thrown out with the vermicompost to fertilize the lawn and garden, will just die overwinter.

These tiny millipedes were in the bin. More than I've ever seen before, and I found a pile of dried-up ones off to one side behind the bin- has a spider been eating them there? They curl up in little silvery spirals. Picking worms individually out of the bin allowed me to leave behind most of the millipedes to get tossed out into the yard. I hope.

Then I started trying to get some plants in better shape. Groomed a bunch of houseplants, and those on the deck. Trimmed back some of the geraniums that had got leggy, and replanted the cut stems.

Sprayed with soapy water/oil the ones that seem to still have bug problems: chocolate mint, ginger mint, stevia, the cuban oregano- 

whose leaves are all so small right now I feel it must be suffering

I went to pick out this dead leaf that had drifted into my basil plant- and noticed somebody was on it

a little mantis!

This plant that's still new to me, the self-heal, is starting to bloom-

Another pic of my fish today- I think I should add to his name: Tucker Firetail

winter spot

Most of the plants I've been overwintering by the basement sliding glass door have been doing well. I have not paid much attention to them this year, aside from weekly watering and once in a while misting the palms. In previous years I had moved the cardboard that blocks the draft on sunny days, and closed the curtains between plants and glass on the coldest nights. This year I had a taller sheet of cardboard and didn't shift anything at all.

Only lost one geranium, not a big deal. Here two geraniums, the cuban oregano between them, grown back from a severe trim when some stems got nipped by the cold (I brought it in too late back in the fall).

Citrus geranium doing really well- I'll just cut it back come spring and replant some of the stems.

Bay leaf is lovely, glows with health. I didn't cut any to dry for cooking this past season but will soon.

Arp rosemary looks pale to me, but definitely survived its first winter! Have used a few sprigs for tea to fend off colds in the past months.

My parlor palms might look sad, but they're actually doing much better. All the new green growth is since I repotted them with wood ash for potassium boost (um, a whole year ago). The older leaves are fading now and I'm hoping any new foliage remains green- there's new fronds unfurling on each.

Happiest is to see one of my fig trees breaking out spring leaves! Just yesterday. It feels time to start planting stuff, now (indoors).

late summer flowers

 Found one last gladiola blooming on the second sideyard, and brought it inside. Lovely pink salmon.

Tithonia thicket is doing great. Sometimes when I go out to deadhead them, I crouch down in the middle so the plants tower over me, just looking at a wall of green leaves, flowers, insects droning, and piece of blue sky. Even though there's the road and another house just a few yards away, it feels for a moment like a secret place. Like the feeling I'd get the other year when pole beans grew up to the garage wall making a green narrow space behind, to stand back there felt secret and peaceful.

A few very new-looking monarchs have appeared. There's one in the middle here on a tithonia but I couldn't get close with the camera, it kept flitting up. The few stalks of milkweed here are bare now, but looks like at least one caterpillar made it to pupate!

Now the borage is all pulled out and celosia "combflower" is thick around the mailbox. I didn't plant them this year, they just came up on their own from dropped seed. There was one plant with yellow that I cut the flower heads off (I prefer the red, pink and cream ones). In gaps I've put cuttings of cuban oregano. I do like to think it keeps the dogs away- the scent is very strong, almost unpleasant even to me. Sometimes I sit at my desk upstairs and glance every time someone walks by with a dog. Nine times out of ten now, they don't pause, and if they do, it's brief.

Beautyberry is starting to show off- its glowing purple fruit like jewelry on the stems.

ladybird beetle

Hanging out laundry, found a ladybug on the wicker chair.

Coaxed it onto my hand and moved it

over to a plant

my miniature geranium! because yes the geraniums got to come outside yesterday too-

In the morning bench is on one side of the deck to stay in shade, 

and by afternoon when I move it to the other side, it's warm enough to bring out the geraniums too

feels like spring

It's going to just touch 60° today. All my little seedlings are out on the table (the greenhouse is scorching!)

I set outside the pot of chives, and brought out from the basement window spot the figs, cuban oregano (how it seems to glow) and bay laurel. 

They're on the lower deck in a shady spot on my wooden bench- will come outside for a week or so on warm days like this to acclimate before I move them to the upper deck in the sun. 

Figs are unfurling their new leaves.

getting colder

Outside I've cut down all the wilted tithonia, trimmed back the joe pye weed and some pokeweed, cut to the ground most of my peonies.

Most of the coleus are dead from chill now; but these few in the front bed sprouted new leaves during a few warm days after a cold night, so I left them in place for a while- sprigs of brighter green

My two transplanted cranesbill seem to be doing well so far

Other plants I moved this fall: the mountain laurel still looks the same, and rhubarb is flourishing!

Really enjoy the combination of arum and zinnias

Here's that one hellebore that went pale- the crown is growing back slowly, still the normal darker green

Garden is finally starting to die back- it's mostly marigolds now, which have grown even thicker and fuller as the other plants fade

And borage- 

the patch in the first bed is nice and thick

Pole beans are withered now, need to clean those up, and finally cut down the tomatoes, amaranth and sunberry. Still have carrots, chard, and lettuces! 

Tonight I'm going to cut a bunch of lettuce, as in a few days it's supposed to drop below freezing, and that may be the end of them. Maybe I should finally start using row covers to extend the season...

I think of the cuban oregano as a semi-succulent, so I tend to forget how cold-hardy it actually is. The row of them outside the short end of the pole bean bed is doing looking particularly nice right now.

Just noticed today that the bit of ivy on the corner of front yard bed is spreading. Time to cut that one back.

Still have not relocated my black-and-blue salvia. I keep watching for it to wilt; once it goes dormant I'll dig and shift it on the next warm day. But it's still full green and waving blue flags. I'm glad of that, but also kind of wish it would die back already so I can move it.