A Gardeners Journal

    I've kept a gardening journal for over 16 years now.  The past few years I have written little in it.  In the earlier years I grew alot of vegetables and plants that I started with seeds and cuttings.  I have alot of information on length of germination, when to start, how they grew, and should I grow them again.  I also added in a lot of weather and sitings of different birds in the yard.  I guess this blog is my new journal.  Although it won't have detailed information, I will be able to look back and see what I planted and how it looked.  These pictures I took are some of the last color of the season. 

    I can always count on Dahlias!  As long as the bunnies don't eat them.  I planted alot this year and they seemed to do well.  I save my tubers and replant them in early spring, but I noticed they didn't flower very well.  I'm not sure if I will bother saving them this year.



    I also tried a red vinca.  It flowered all summer and is still going strong.  I had never seen a vinca in red.

    Chrysanthemums are just starting to pop.  The Dusty Miller is on it's second year, and I have some that is three years old.  They're sold as an annual, so I've always pulled them out.  A few years ago I didn't get a chance to do my fall clean up and was surprised to see new growth on it.  The second year they are bigger and get a small yellow flower on them.  I have decided I like purple Ageratum.  This has done very well for the past two years.  Marigolds have not done well and Impatients look like they rotted from the heat and humidity.

    It's too bad that it is so hard to find winter hardy Mums anymore.  I have a yellow one that wintered over from last year, but we had a very warm winter.

    This is the tomato I grew in compost.  It is mid September and all these tomatoes have yet to ripen.  I wish I had done a complete count of all the tomatoes I got from this one plant!  I know it produced over 30.  Will pick these green and wait till they ripen.  I usually dehydrate what we can't eat, for soups and sauces over the winter.



    Last, but not least, is the Begonias.  These always make a nicely mounded plant.  The bugs and the bunnies don't seem to bother them, and they come in so many colors.