The garden is winding down, but yesterday was a beautiful autumn day. I watched two Monarch butterflies sail past me, flying over the roof of the house heading south. Amy and I took advantage of the beautiful day to walk around in the garden and I gave her the camera as I often do. Here are some of the things she saw. An American copper butterfly could still find a Clara Curtis mum to drink a little nectar.
The summer sweet has turned a brilliant yellow. A Grandpa Ott morning glory is wound around its branches. The colors are gorgeous. I never thought morning glories would winter over here. This one self seeds with abandon! This clinging vine no matter how lovely has nearly achieved weed status!
The shapes, colors and textures of the top of Ed's stone wall make an interesting picture. All too soon the plants will fade into the background and the walls will be the dominant feature in our garden.
It was surprising to see this woolly bear caterpillar atop a Chinese forget-me-not plant. I wonder if those sticky seed pods will stick to him like they do to me? These rust and black caterpillars bring back fond childhood memories for all of us. It's always a delight to catch sight of one and this fall there have been many.
This spring the toad lily got frosted hard. I really wondered if it would be back, but here it is blooming in October. It's flowers may be small, but they make up for it with their intricate pattern and lovely colors so perfect for a close up!
A stroll over to the hazelnut bush caused me to squeal with delight and surprise. In all the years since we planted the hazelnuts we have picked at most 5 tiny nuts. This year the bush is covered with the intriguing papery husks that contain the hazelnuts inside. You can see next year's catkins are already in place.
We got a basket and picked the nuts that we could easily reach. There are even more still on the bush.
It was wonderful fun to harvest this unexpected treasure. Beautiful weather, flowers, stones, butterflies, fall colors and hazelnuts. Who could ask for more than that!
