It is Day 184. This is a picture from earlier this summer of Daisies in full bloom. I am afraid they are rather beaten down today by the rain.
Day 183. Not every plant is a flower but if you leave most of them long enough you will get a flowers.
Day 185. We looked out our family room patio door a few pictures ago. On the other side of the room is a small window that looks out onto the Patio off the kitchen.
Day 188 and we are looking back to the spring in the garden. The roses after the rain can be so beautiful. The colors are deeper and the raindrops are like jewels on the petals.
Day 187. I love flower blossoms. They are so amazing close up.
Day 189. This beautiful cauliflower will be on the dinner table sometime this month. That’s the joy of this garden.
Day 186. These were the grapes a few weeks ago. They are now spread out to dry into raisins and then Susan will make raisin bread and cake.
Day 190. Three years ago I decided I wanted Sunflowers in the garden and I started a packet of seeds and set them out in Susan’s Garden. They grew really well but Susan was not happy with me because they sort of dominated the garden.
Day 192. The flowers in the garden are thick and dazzling. I find so many opportunities for interesting pictures.
Day 191. The sunflower is a wonderful plant. Coming in all sizes their blossoms are always impressive.
Day 191. Here is another sunflower blossom in the process of unfolding. I think these are a great plant.
October 18th is Day 193 of the Susan’s Garden Project. The 193rd day is well past half way and we are heading into the fall. But thinking back to last spring we had the most beautiful poppies. What a wonderful shade of orange.
Day 195. What could simpler than a tomato leaf? Beautiful!
Day 194. Sometimes simple pictures of a blossom can be a work of art. If you just look clearly at the world, it is full of wonderful art.
Day 196 is the 21st of October. Yes the world is full of art, but, it does not last. Look what the rain did to Susan’s swan’s last night. Winter is coming!
Day 197 is October 22nd. Susan grows little tiny very tastey tomatoes in boxes along one wall of the house. They love the location and produce all summer for us. But, as I said, winter is coming. Here is what they look like today. We will miss them!
Day 198 is October 23rd. Fall blossoms look beautiful in the thin fall sun.
Day 199 and the fuscia in the baskets are still pretty. But one of these nights it will freeze and they will go away until next year.
Day 200 must be some kind of a landmark. Only 165 days to go. It is October 25th. A few days ago we looked at the damage fall has done to Susan’s swans. But in the summer they were wonderful.
Day 201. All summer our patio is another room in our house. What a room! Look what Susan has done with it. This was this year.
Day 202. Susan grows beets. Her beets are hard to beat!
Day 203. The daisies of summer make for beautiful pictures.
Day 204. Have you ever looked at a tomato blossom. Because they are small we tend to overlook them but they are really beautiful.
October 30th is Day 205 of the Susan’s Garden Project. Still on tomato blossoms from last summer.
October 31st is Halloween. Last year Susan grew pumpkins and we made our own jack-o-lanterns. We had enough to give one to Sam as well for her house.
Day 207 is November 1st. Again I return to the side of the house and our Madonna who looks after her flowers. We walk by her several times a day speaking to her each time.
November 3rd is Day 209 of the Susan’s Garden Project. At the top of the stairs into the veggie garden is an old Mexican pot. This past year it had a tomato plant taking up residence.
Day 208. The apples are all picked now and are disappearing into pies and cakes. Last spring they were just blossoms on the tree.
Day 211. Susan has a flower that is a miniature Iris. I don’t have any idea what they are called but I do know they are lovely.
Day 210. Every garden has a gardener. This is my gardener who hates me taking her picture when she is in her work clothes.
Day 212. We get visitors to the garden and we should have a look at another of them. Not very big but there are lots of them. Susan has four feeders out for them.
Day 213 and we are still looking at hummingbirds. They just love these red flowers and are in them more than Susan’s feeders. They are hard to photograph because they travel so quickly. They are amazing creatures.
Day 214. The day I photographed these little guys I was in the garden with a telephoto lens taking flower pictures. I saw the birds in the red flowers and walked over. They were so busy with the flowers they paid no attention to me as I approached. These pictures were the result.
Day 215 and we are looking at Poached Eggs. Hey, I don’t name ’em, I just look at ’em. These don’t last long in the spring but they make a fantastic garden border for a few weeks.
Day 216. We have been talking about hummingbirds. We also get racoons, skunks and Nico saw a bear in the alley the other day. And we get cats. Well, we get one cat: CoCo.
Day 217. In the front yard we have a red ornamental tree which turned really beautiful with the cold weather. So I stuck my head inside it and this is what I saw.
Day 218. We have had a wonderful summer but the rain has arrived and the yard is suffering. Look how sad it is.
Day 219. The yard looks pretty sad now. But we still have memories of last summer.
Day 220. The hummingbirds also love the single fuscia blossoms which come back every year.
Day 222. Of course I am always taking pictures of my gardener. She is the prettiest flower in the garden.
Day 221. In the garden there is always rosemary for meat dishes or baked crisp on focaccia.
I take more pictures of our Madonna dei Fiori than almost anything else in the garden. Here is another one from this past summer. Day 223 is the 17th of November.
Day 224 and we are looking at the stairs up into the vegetable garden last spring. November 18th.
Day 225 of our Project. I cannot believe I have not mentioned the figs yet. We have two trees and every August we have so many figs we give half of them away, we preserve some in grappa, we dry some, and we eat lots.
Well, to-day is the 20th of November and it is Day 226. Spring time is tulip time and I love these flowers. The colors are glorious!
Day 227 and we are going back to the orange poppies. It is a shame that these blossoms only last a day or two and rain destroys them. So delicate!
I am always in trouble for sneaking in a few sunflowers to the garden. We had none this year but about three years ago I planted lots much to Susan’s annoyance This is one in a bunch. Day 228.
On the front garden wall there is a little purple flower that crawls across the face of the rock. It belongs in our collection of portraits. Day 229.
Day 230. Back to sunflowers from a few years ago. I have stood in acres and acres of these in Tuscany. They are amazing!
After a summer rain in Susan’s garden everything is covered in little round jewels and the colors are so intense!
Susan has several sets of stairs in the yard and garden and every one of them is turned into a little garden of their own. Walking around the house is a joy. These are the stairs up the side of the house into the back yard. Day 234.
Day 231 and these are last summer’s daisies. It is amazing how many flowers Susan has each year.
Day 233. Susan bought Baby’s Breath last year and it was a nice plant. The blossoms were allowed to open naturally into a spray of little white flowers.
Day 237. There are flowers in Susan’s garden that I don’t know and to be perfectly honest they look like they might be weeds. But they always look so great.
Day 238. Up the South side of the house Susan has containers full of flowers, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, egg plants. It is beautiful walking here in the summer. Not like now with the rain pelting down outside.
Day 239. Here are my two Madonnas. We are on our way out somewhere and Susan has picked a bunch of flowers from the garden to take with us.
29 November is Day 235 of the Susan’s Garden Project. I keep posting pictures of summers past. That is because it is raining and there is not much in the garden I want to show anyone. So let’s enjoy summer!
Day 236. As I am sure you noticed, we are behind in our posts. I am working on it. Here are the calla lilies again. I think they look so good against the weathered wood.
Day 240 and we are still looking at summers past. Tulips don’t last nearly long enough. But they must give way to other glories as the daffodils did for them.
December 5th and guess what I did today? Susan’s Garden has a new look both in the back yard and in the front.
Day 242. Every summer we get single fuscias coming by themselves in the garden. And boy do the hummingbirds love them.
Day 243. We have some small purple tulips that seem to return on their own as well. Neither of us can remember buying them.
Day 244. Every spring the Snapdragons appear here and there and Susan moves them when they are small to a location where they show off the best.