Last one for the year ....

I have been so neglectful of this poor blog I wouldn't be surprised if no one even reads it.
Being tied up with cosmetic renos inside our nest and it has driven me to the brink of reason.
Anyone who has gone through renovations in their nest knows what it can do to a normal sane mind.

But ? do it to a wacky one like mine ?
Pity my poor husband, Garden PA, .. he has put up with hysterics , laughing fits, and general insanity of a woman on the edge.
Have you ever seen the movie "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks ? remember his laughing fit when the tub fell through the floor ? ... that was me a few times .. truly !!
It is done now (for the most part) ... but then why am I still teetering on the brink of "madness" ?

My gardens have been sorely neglected.
Garden PA will be trying to help me as much as possible to clear back plants,transplant plants, plant bulbs and general clean up.
Bless his heart he picked up 6 big bags of special "sea" compost for me today.
We have two days that seem decent by way of the forecast, IF we can do it.
Please wish us all the luck that the Irish are supposed to have, to get this mission done.

Meanwhile .. I managed to capture a few pretty shots of the flaming Japanese maples that survived the last winter kill and are so beautiful they stun me with their colour.
It also answers the burning question as to why I take my chances with these gorgeous little trees.

The light is not the best but you get the idea of how intense the red is on these leaves.

Crimson Queen's main trunk seems to be dead, but I am not giving up since this undergrowth is pleading with me in a sea of lamium

See how you can NOT miss these beauties ?
There is other colour and non colour in the garden too of course

The birds love these berries

I love how Solomon's Seal goes ghostly white with the contrast of the green ferns holding on.

Just a pretty shot to savor when old man winter arrives.

The "gigantic" grass was a show stopper too

One last shot of my beauties

I wish you all a restful winter to stoke the energy for Spring and all the excitement that brings :-)

Bells , Whistles, and Lighting ...

The bells I have in mind aren't "noisy" which is a good thing because the Blue Jays are noisy enough for the whole neighborhood .. they have us trained to dole out peanuts each day .. smart birds right ?

Mrs. Harvey ... is one of my favorites and a re-bloomer (a heck of a re-bloomer if I had been paying attention to trimming it back more readily) .. so a bonus, to a beauty !

Even in the shade she shines

Lighting does makes us look twice at our plants .. sometimes it can really change our perspective.
I love back lighting but oh ... it changes so quickly.
The axiom of being in the right place at the right time, is so true !          Ally way garden.

I'm not thrilled with the view across the road (or the cable box) but the last fickle lighting that makes the hydrangea and grass glow, is pretty.

Bright lighting isn't so bad either .. it brings out amazing detail .. combine it with a white subject and you would think it would be overwhelming .. but not all the time.
A some what black back ground, from deep shade, helps of course.

You would think total shade might not be a good idea .. but sometimes it can lend a bit of drama to a plant .. it also can define amazing detail.

Combine shade and light to bring contrast of two very different colored plants and it is complimentary.

September is here ... the garden is still alive and dare I say thriving .. the list of what  has to be done gets longer each time I have a brain burp .. so I hope I can survive said dreaded LIST myself !

Cracking the Colour

Sometimes you just get the silhouette .... and that is nice
Then sometimes you get a little more

Then .. there are the plants that offer up that colour .. Buttered Rum ...

Fantastic contrast to the "green" that can be a bit monotonous ?

One of my mystery hydrangea .. I thought I knew what is was, ....  now .. nope !

It colours up before Pinky Winky (to the left of the yews)

Pinky has nice big flowers that will morph into the pink it is named for .. stages of colour really.

Little Lamb 

Little Lime ... the "Little Sisters" ?

Also .. Little Quick Fire ... with it's parent "Quick Fire" standing behind it.
So you are catching on the the "little" theme ?

A "little" volunteer .. Tiger Eye Sumac .. not sure what I am going to do about it ....

So ... colour is cracking here and there .. the big A for Autumn is sneaking in bit by bit and I welcome the change ... not the work but that is another matter .. for now the colour is CRACKING !

What's in a standard ?

Monday mornings ... spectacular ... right ? .. second last week of August .. even better ... sure ...
Signs of summer slipping towards Fall ? maybe ?
One of my baby Tiger Eye Sumac is "blushing" a bit .. a tiny indicator of change happening

Tall Fall grasses ... flowering from tiny beads .....

Joe Pye ... unfurling .. letting down it's "hair"

OK .. enough said about that .. I am on now to my "standard"
I planted hydrangea standard "Pink Diamond" .. well .. maybe "stuck" is another description of how I plunked the poor thing in the shade side of my garden on a holding pattern, until I could figure out the proper place for it.
I transplanted it this past Spring and thought .. no flowers this year because it could be a bit shocked from my not so nice treatment or was that indecision ?
BUT ?

View from the deck ....

It has decided the move was not such a bad one and even on a cloudy wet day it is looking GOOD.

My first standard ... and so far I am liking what a standard it is !

I forgot to go into detail about the Spring renovation of the patio .. so here is a partial picture of the flagstones when they are wet because flagstones when wet look even better some how.
It seems ages ago when the poor guys were working in rain, snow and hail trying to lay these suckers down .. they did an amazing job and we are enjoying the view (a bit messy at the moment) very much.