Fall Flavors

Yesterday I ate a piece of Finnish hot pepper candy, a concoction made from licorice, hot peppers, and ammonium chloride. Ammonium chloride? Doesn't that sound like a dangerous chemical? It didn't smell awful, however, and a tentative lick of the hard candy was intriguing. So I popped a piece in my mouth, and it wasn't bad. Breathing through my nose while sucking on it gave me an illusionary whiff of bathroom cleanser, but it did clear the sinuses. I think it would make an excellent sore throat/cough drop.The candy was a gift to my son from an internet friend in Finland. There is always more bravery in numbers, so my son came over to share the culinary experience with me.

Lately I have been eating another, very American food that conjures up images of early autumn: apple pie. Every September we are awash with apple pies. We have two apple trees, a golden delicious and a red delicious, neither of which are recommended for my Deep South climate. Both also are at risk for apple cedar rust due to the many cedar trees in my area. Nevertheless, the trees continue to grow and produce lots of apples each year. I have suggested making applesauce or even freezing some for later use, but Lou likes to bake apple pies. Anyone coming through is likely to go home with one. 

There is definitely a flavor of fall in the garden, though our temperatures are hanging in the 90s during the day. Already some leaves are beginning to turn.A clear September day

Dogwood leaves are starting to show fall colors.

Forsythia is known for its cheery early spring flowers, but I also like it for its autumn coloration. These leaves are from the same shrub.Surely cooler weather is on the way. The garden is expecting it, and so am I. Most of the following images are from the woodland garden:

Here are some photos of the front garden, taken from across the front lawn. Everything has a buttery flavor to it, soft and golden:

Finally, peeking into the front garden from behind the blue bench:

All of this is just a taste of autumn, but it's enough to make me want more. I am so looking forward to the milder temperatures and the rich colors, which sometimes last well into December. Many of the plants will have a rebirth of sorts, putting out new growth and flowers. In our part of the country it is the perfect time for gardening. 

Happy fall!

The Best of the Rest, 2011

January is a good month for clearing out duplicate or subpar photos from my computer. It's a big job, as I can stroll through the garden and come back with several hundred photos! I eliminate a lot of them from my digital camera before transferring them to a computer, but I still end up with scads of photos just taking up hard drive space. However, there's always some photos I want to hang on to, even though they never made it to the blog.

Here are a few of the 'best of the rest'. For each month of 2011, I picked one previously unpublished photo taken that month. I chose them for different reasons, and the selection was harder than I thought!

January:Naked trees are beautiful! January may be a dreary month, but even as a few dead leaves still cling to tree and shrub branches, I appreciate the sculptural quality of the landscape. It's a good month to see the 'bones' of the garden.

February:Snowfalls are few and brief here in Helena, Alabama. I enjoyed pretending this is the normal winter appearance of my yard! The blue bench in the Front Garden is beautiful whatever the season.

March:Only six weeks after the previous photo, dogwoods and some azaleas and other flowering shrubs are blooming. The Japanese maples also put on a show this time of year.

April:I have had this concrete squirrel ornament for many years. He moves around the patio and surrounding area according to whim. 

May:The swing in the Lady Garden is a favorite spot to watch and listen to wildlife. Hawks, owls, bluebirds, robins, cardinals, and many other species of birds frequent the area. Not to mention squirrels, chipmunks, and bunny rabbits. Occasionally there are raccoons and foxes, opossums, and snakes. And lots of insects!

June:This year I added several hydrangeas to the ones already growing along the little path that connects the Lady Garden to the Front Garden. I now have a hydrangea walk! 

July:This 'Butterfly' Japanese maple was planted earlier this year. It grows near the hydrangea walk. I love its variegated leaves. I once had another one of these, unfortunately planted in poor soil in way too much sun. It was a deadly location. I hope this one will like its shady site with soil enriched with lots of organic matter. It's looking good in July, and so far, so good.

August:Many plants and people suffer through the summer doldrums in August, wilting in the heat. The bright foliage of weeping Deodar Cedar 'Feelin' Blue' is a refreshing, deceptively cool note in the Woodland Garden.

September:Look very closely amidst the garlic chives. Can you find two hairstreak butterflies?

October:This October photo looks over the herb bed. One can see down the slope to the arbor in the Lady Garden. This area becomes wild if I don't trim and weed it regularly through the summer, which I never do because it's craziness to do that kind of work in July and August! I clean things up once the weather starts to cool. The herb bed is on my list for a major renovation. It's not at the top of the list, but it's on there.

November:The ivy that grows in the woods beside our drive may be beautiful, but it is terribly invasive. Lou cuts the ivy from around the base of as many trees as possible each year, but it is a losing battle. The lady who built my house sixty years ago loved ivy and planted a few sprigs here and there. I wonder what she would think if she could see it now. I have to work to keep it out of the main part of the Woodland Garden.

December:I love these variegated poinsettias. Each year many of my Christmas decorations are plants, and that is no surprise to anybody!

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my leftover photos. May you have happy gardening and make many good memories in 2012!

If that's not enough, also see 2010 Leftovers