MiniFred, gardening

 Fred was still up and about! Sept. 12th. He poked his head out of the front yard burrow Sept. 14th. No sign of Auntie Fred. This is Sept. 13th.

Spring vs. Fall! Yep, chonky.

They've been kinda slow these days. They sleep in until the day warms, stay up later than before.  

This is burrow # 6A in the corner. 

In the background, behind the bumble bee, you can see Auntie Fred in the back ground. OK, maybe not. But she was there the 12th.

We went shopping. Caitlin said she was off to check out garden nursery sales. What a good idea. We took off to Gemmell's, as they are good with many products on offer. Everything was 20% off.

Happily I had a personal assistant! I texted the photo to Caitlin. JB is wearing his Lake Ontario t-shirt from Lakeshore Outfitters. 

One Hibiscus, 4 Phlox, a Turtlehead plant, and Storm Cloud Amsonia tabernaemontana.

We have a Monarch with a badly formed under wing. I put it on some flowers, and it seems to be trying to figure out how to fly. I moved it to a weed with flowers and it seemed to eat. It flew itself onto the petunia hanging basket. 

  

My SIL, Jean-Luc, and his buddies went from Cairo, Egypt, to Istanbul, Türkiye.

The Blue Mosque.  

New plants!

 My lovely, thoughtful daughter Caitlin was out at the nursery last Friday and sent me photos. How she remembered, I don't know! I've been looking for a tree hibiscus for a year. They are everywhere, and provide some fall colour. Someone had to ID it for me, as I was seeing them all over the place but didn't know what they were.

I noted the location and thought about it. A drive on a torrentially rainy day. What the heck! 

We set off Saturday morning. We had over an inch of rain Saturday. It was ridiculous. 

The drive along highway #7 is awful. People treat it as a Nascar track. This dude passed us on a double line, on a bridge, in the rain. You can check this post for other car incidents of dangerous driving along highway #7 from Friday. 

Cottage country... gray skies, but we were on a mission.

Bridge to nowhere?

Autumn seems to be early. The leaves are turning way too fast. Mind you, it was an early spring.

I spotted lots of these shrubs around the area. It's sort of the last blooming before fall. They are tree hydrangeas, and it took awhile to figure out their names. 

In Perth: 

I have always admired this garden:

We made it. It was raining, but I'm not made of sugar.

This tall one was $250, even with the 25% off I was worried about spending that much on it. I don't know if the deer like them!

I stuffed them in! They rolled around some, but they were fine. I did have to wash the mat!

Here is my haul! A tree Hydrangea, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus, and a 4th, but I forget what it is!

I am hoping to plant a couple today. It's cool, but sunny. I was thinking, at 3 a.m., about where to place them. I think I have a plan! 

New plants and old

 For posterity, I'll put this here. My new plants. I don't have a plan. I just wing it. With the dying of the old Catalpa tree, the garden has gone from a shade garden to a sunny one. 

Pumpkins beside the house. Take that, Fred! Actually, the deer like them, too.

Hollyhock (I'm not confident)

Castor bean with zuccinni where the bird feeder sat all winter.

Repotted cherry tomato plant. There are 4 in the original pot. I might have split them, but that'd be two pots to water not one!

Beside Guinivere: Foxglove, and Joe Pye Weed

When bloggers post wonderful photos of gardens, it reminds me to check on the plants I've forgotten about. Maggie Magnolia! 

It is fun grabbing plants and shoving them into the ground with great hopes. Then there is maintenance. I have to be careful using the lawn tractor. Between Fred and Phoebe! Can you see Phoebe on the back of the farthest chair?!

I did the lawn. JB trimmed.

That was Sunday. Monday I managed to get the water fountain all set. This is the inside of the base. It is a pain to take it apart. The pump gets cluttered with debris. Mostly grass when I do the lawn!!! (See above!)

I had an idea, after all these years. A little trap meant for sinks. I am so pleased!