The 2020 Garden, Landscape, and Other Stuff Thread...

Nice shot by the way. They seem to be on time for your area as you had mentioned September 10th. Maybe she will visit my house and tank up at my feeder on her way South. "Dinner will be waiting for her."

This year had been a total flop as far as Hummingbirds go at the house until the babies started hitting the feeder and flowers in Mid-July. But I work with what nature throws my way. The nest must have been a good distance away from me since I never saw any during April when they usually show up.

Likely tropical storm Sally is supposed to track close to my area and bring rain. The predictions keep shifting the track East and a bit South as it moves inland. We could use some rain, but we don't need buckets of the stuff like they are likely to get near the coast in AL and MS. This storm appears to be mostly a rain event past the coast and still predicted to be a hurricane at landfall. Been a busy tropical year in the Atlantic and there are more to come it seems.

The predicted storm surge thing has me troubled as the last hurricane didn't have a surge anywhere near what was predicted close to the landfall area. But I suppose I would pay close attention to the projections if I lived there, just in case.
Thanks, 22-rimfire ... long zoom, through double panes and low light at ISO 800 ... the grain shows yet I just liked this one of a baby, taken on the 9th Sep - must have been second nest. Tiny - they amaze me. The babies perch a lot more than adults and I am grateful to have the time to observe them. Next year I will pay more attention to natural perches. Babies sit on the stronger zinnia flowers a fair amount - I have an image of one settling on a pink gladiola deep in the cosmo foliage - also not a great image, just one I like ...

DSCF2865 HUMMER GLAD PINK SITS COSMOS 650 MED.jpg

Yes, the Atlantic coast, Gulf coast and inland - brutal weather this season.
 
Just a bit above freezing are the frosts that bite you. You think it won't happen because the temp won't drop below freezing, but it does. I think you're "ready".

There is a thread over in Gadgets about a bucket garden container (5 gallon buckets), sort of like the City Pickers container principle.
I check out the bucket garden. I've been wanting to experiment with the rope wick (in bucket of water) method of maintaining moisture in containers too - so many things to try, so little time :D
 
I check out the bucket garden. I've been wanting to experiment with the rope wick (in bucket of water) method of maintaining moisture in containers too - so many things to try, so little time :D
My sense is that a rope wick will not transfer enough water upward to a larger plant (say a tomato or pepper). It has been hot here (but nights have been a bit cooler) and I see the need to water at least every other day and everyday on the container stuff. There is no wick, but they have been drinking up the water. My city picker containers are currently pretty much fallow although there are some small sweet onions sprouting back up now. These are the ones I judged to be too small when I harvested a month or so ago. I may just get some onion sets and plant some more... if I can find sets at this point....
 
A couple pepper pictures from the garden taken today. They include Yellow Bell, Red Bell, and Pimento. Getting a lot of peppers now. Been really pleased with the pimento peppers this year. They are doing much better than last year. The Pimento's are in containers. Actually, too many peppers to use right now..... This is just a sampling... there are ready to pick peppers on each plant right now.
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Thanks, 22-rimfire ... long zoom, through double panes and low light at ISO 800 ... the grain shows yet I just liked this one of a baby, taken on the 9th Sep - must have been second nest. Tiny - they amaze me. The babies perch a lot more than adults and I am grateful to have the time to observe them. Next year I will pay more attention to natural perches. Babies sit on the stronger zinnia flowers a fair amount - I have an image of one settling on a pink gladiola deep in the cosmo foliage - also not a great image, just one I like ...

View attachment 1418812
My older brother has done some pretty good photos through window glass. My suggestion is to keep the lens as perpendicular to the glass as possible and take as many shots as possible and delete the duds.
 
A couple pepper pictures from the garden taken today. They include Yellow Bell, Red Bell, and Pimento. Getting a lot of peppers now. Been really pleased with the pimento peppers this year. They are doing much better than last year. The Pimento's are in containers. Actually, too many peppers to use right now..... This is just a sampling... there are ready to pick peppers on each plant right now.
View attachment 1421479 View attachment 1421480 View attachment 1421481
What a haul! The peppers are loving the tlc :thumbsup: Containers and cages seem to be good options for them. For me, there's always 'next year' to do better and this winter I plan to brainstorm lazy-person :rolleyes:, basic watering for containers.
 
Frost on the pumpkin overnight ... tender leaves are crinkled and the fire in the woodstove is most welcome.

Zinnias become works of art with the frost sparkle on the blooms.

DSCF3690 ZINNIA FROST ORANGE 650 MED.jpg

Unlike the tough zinnias and cosmos, the coleus (campfire and ruby slipper) took the hit on the upper branches. I'll save the plants from killing frost, cut them back to 1/3 and when new growth comes over winter, I'll start cuttings for next year. Foreground is my hand trolley for firewood - pneumatic tires for 'over threshold' - gets the logs from porch to stove inside.

DSCF3702 COLEUS FROST 650 MED.jpg

Ravenous is the best way to describe the birds and critters these days. Should a hummingbird straggler come along, there are still lots of nasturtiums (some lost to frost), cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, gaillardia and calendula - masses of goldenrod in the fields and lots of wildflowers for them. Truly I hope they are all well on their way South of here by now.

DSCF3704 BENCH NASTURTIUMS COSMOS 650 MED.jpg
 
Forgot to ask. 22-rimfire 22-rimfire About the yellow yarrow - how did it do this summer? I cut mine back (paprika) to 1/3 after the first cycle of blooming/deadheading was past. It just got very uncontrolled, laying along the ground rather than upright - and indeed the foliage came back quickly, upright ... and put up a good number of blooms. These second blooms didn't have the intense colour of the first ones.

And - camera shooting through glass. Reflections from inside, light materials etc. - when the morning sun touched down from lower on the horizon later in season it actually switched the best light to late afternoon on the flowers outside the window. House is almost aligned E-W and window faces S. I prefer the freshness of the dew on foliage earlier but had to go late summer for the light from the west. Always watching that light, moving across the garden, the landscape. For the heat as well as the camera.

As for angles, I would tell the hummers where to pose but doubt their full cooperation :D Seriously, next season I would isolate an area, have the camera set for speed and focus and stick to it. I like the blind idea you mentioned too. If I get serious about getting my hummer grail pic, I might consider some new (to me) glass as well.
 
taldesta taldesta My yellow yarrow did okay, but not great. It never really spread at all and hopefully that will change next year. I still have another one to plant and some other perennials in pots to set out. I was thinking of creating a new planting area but have taken no action to do so. So, I will probably just mix them into the current perennial planting area. I was thinking of creating a raised bed near my neighbor's fence to plant stuff but also to act as a surface water diversion for runoff from his property that flows into my yard and erodes the soil in some areas.

It's pansy time here..... haven't decided what I am going to do yet, but I always set out some for winter and early spring color. I don't know if I will use my tomato containers as I did the last couple of years as they are generally looking really good come April and I hesitate to remove them to plant the tomatoes. Hence, I can not amend the soil much in those containers in he spring before planting tomatoes.

I was going to ask about "frosts" as we have just had a major cold air mass move Southward into the States from Canada. No frost here (yet).
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After the hunting season period and Christmas, you should be able to get one of those ready made blinds seriously discounted.

Yes, we deal with what's served in terms of "angles".

I posted a Joe Pye Weed picture over in the photography forum (flower thread) taken this past week in a overgrown meadow. I enjoy trying to create an interesting image (aka art) from a common scene that most people would just pass by as ho hum. I should be getting my dwarf Joe Pye weed plants in the next couple of weeks for setting out here in my perennial area.
 
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What a haul! The peppers are loving the tlc :thumbsup: Containers and cages seem to be good options for them. For me, there's always 'next year' to do better and this winter I plan to brainstorm lazy-person :rolleyes:, basic watering for containers.
Thanks. I think cages work really well for peppers. For reasons I do not understand other than perhaps plant spacing, my peppers get very tall and need support. Growing up, we never had these big tall peppers in our garden. Yes to next year.... try try again. That is the life of a gardener.
 
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I think the hummingbirds have actually increased here. I now have 3 feeders getting used, although one doesn't get much. I'll put out 2 heated ones once the frost comes, and they get worked over pretty good all winter.
 
taldesta taldesta My yellow yarrow did okay, but not great. It never really spread at all and hopefully that will change next year. I still have another one to plant and some other perennials in pots to set out. I was thinking of creating a new planting area but have taken no action to do so. So, I will probably just mix them into the current perennial planting area. I was thinking of creating a raised bed near my neighbor's fence to plant stuff but also to act as a surface water diversion for runoff from his property that flows into my yard and erodes the soil in some areas.

It's pansy time here..... haven't decided what I am going to do yet, but I always set out some for winter and early spring color. I don't know if I will use my tomato containers as I did the last couple of years as they are generally looking really good come April and I hesitate to remove them to plant the tomatoes. Hence, I can not amend the soil much in those containers in he spring before planting tomatoes.

I was going to ask about "frosts" as we have just had a major cold air mass move Southward into the States from Canada. No frost here (yet).
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<Deleted camera stuff. Doubt anyone cares.>
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After the hunting season period and Christmas, you should be able to get one of those ready made blinds seriously discounted.

Yes, we deal with what's served in terms of "angles".

I posted a Joe Pye Weed picture over in the photography forum (flower thread) taken this past week in a overgrown meadow. I enjoy trying to create an interesting image (aka art) from a common scene that most people would just pass by as ho hum. I should be getting my dwarf Joe Pye weed plants in the next couple of weeks for setting out here in my perennial area.
I appreciated camera stuff :thumbsup: ... and I'll be checking out the photography discussions more - good info in exchanges recently there as well.

Also forgot to mention that over this past hot summer I had pansies cascading over a raised pot and they bloomed (small flowers) all summer and continue past first frost. The secret I think was that they stayed in full shade under the maple tree only catching the low light of rising and setting sun. Some from seed this year and some survived last winter. They do love a chill in the air.
 
I think the hummingbirds have actually increased here. I now have 3 feeders getting used, although one doesn't get much. I'll put out 2 heated ones once the frost comes, and they get worked over pretty good all winter.
Seeing a hummingbird here this late in the season ... well ... yikes :eek: especially once frost may have taken a lot of their food supply for their migration. But I do like to think of them in milder climbs tanking up at heated feeders. Spoil them :)
 
I appreciated camera stuff :thumbsup: ... and I'll be checking out the photography discussions more - good info in exchanges recently there as well.

Also forgot to mention that over this past hot summer I had pansies cascading over a raised pot and they bloomed (small flowers) all summer and continue past first frost. The secret I think was that they stayed in full shade under the maple tree only catching the low light of rising and setting sun. Some from seed this year and some survived last winter. They do love a chill in the air.
I wouldn't be surprised that pansies do fairly well all throughout the warm season there. But yeah, I think the shade helped. Now they will want sun! There essentially are no photography discussions here in BF. Folks just post pictures. I hope you remember most of what I said if it makes any difference to you. But I know for the majority, that discussion was boring stuff. I get caught up in it and forget most do not share my enthusiasm. That's why I deleted it. I am still learning. My efforts do not come close to my two brother's bird photography.
 
Happy autumn, gardeners :thumbsup: There's no ice on the birdbaths here yet but, following the one hard frost I posted earlier, most blooms and foliage are showing quite a hit from overnight 'near' frosts lately. My mini roses are blooming happily right by the house and the gaillardia carries on beautifully too - colour in the garden still. Inches from my easy-chair window, the finches and sparrows jostle the zinnia, cosmo and liatris stalks eating a bounty of seeds. I am wondering how the mid-west gardens US are doing; haven`t seen a cactus posted for a bit :)

DSCF2061 SALAMANDER GRAVITY FEED BIRDBATH 650 MED.jpg
 
Well it's the first day of fall, and the rain has already started this week. I've got most of the yard pruned back for winter, but still have to get the roses (which still have flowers, so I'm reluctant to cut them). Made a drive last Saturday to a nursery that specializes in drought resistant plants (yes, I know, this is the PNW so that's not normally a problem) and picked up some Grevillea Neil Bell which I hope to get in the ground this weekend. Hope is they will mature and give me red flowers in December/January. Hummingbirds can't live on sugar water alone...

Here's a pic of what it should look like:
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The Hummingbirds have pretty much left our immediate area, yet 20 miles away my brother will have them all year. For the last 4 or 5 years we've had a nest in a corner of our patio. This year the female was crazy, she started the nest in May, finished in late July. It's a tough life, raising these little guys, one nest in my yard was terrific, two little eggs, then a windstorm destroyed it. Here are a few pictures I took this year, the kids made it!!

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"Where's our food!!" This is the day they both fledged.
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The Hummingbirds have pretty much left our immediate area, yet 20 miles away my brother will have them all year. For the last 4 or 5 years we've had a nest in a corner of our patio. This year the female was crazy, she started the nest in May, finished in late July. It's a tough life, raising these little guys, one nest in my yard was terrific, two little eggs, then a windstorm destroyed it. Here are a few pictures I took this year, the kids made it!!

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"Where's our food!!" This is the day they both fledged.
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What heart these tiny birds have! Thanks for the nest pics - a special treat to peek into their secret world. I have enough on my plate just to catch them eating :D
 
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