Still Harvesting

Broccoli is a plant that will keep producing for you well into the fall. After you harvest the initial head if you leave the plant in the ground side shoots will appear and they are just as tasty.

Here it is, almost November and I picked enough broccoli in the past couple of days to make a big pot of cream of brocolli soup that mom and I can feast on all week. I also have plenty that I blanched and froze for eating all winter long.

Broccoli is cool weather plant that prefers cooler temperatures. That is why despite the frost we had last night (enough to put a thin sheet of ice on the small bird bath I keep on my deck) I was still able to pick some spears this morning. No protection needed-the plants were just fine.

 SLife sure is good with bounty galore!

 

Repeating Lavender

My lavender first bloomed this year back in June. It put on quite a display back then, not being hurt by the drought at all. It is in bloom once again now in October, not quite as showy, but still beautiful. If you want a plant that tolerates dry spells, needs little care, has a lovely scent and does not attract pests, lavender is the plant for you. Yes, winter is coming, but one needs to enjoy the flowers as long as possible, which is exactly what I am doing.

October Color

 

October in Michigan is a beautiful time of year with the leaves of the various trees turning into every variation of red, orange and yellow before falling and being added to the compost pile or turned into mulch. At least that is where my leaves go. Those leaves are too precious a resource for me to give them away.

 

The leaves of October are not the only color in my garden though. Some of my plants have been in bloom all season long like the above Calendula. The previous picture is of one of my mums just starting to give a display of color.

 

The butterfly bush started blooming in August and has been in bloom ever since. I just keep clipping back the dead blossoms and it keeps producing flowers.

 

 

I dig up the gladiola bulbs in fall and plant them in late spring. I am rewarded with gorgeous color  in late August and of course now.

This datura self seeds and comes back every year from seed. I never have to worry about planting it again.

 

Same goes for the borage, a true blue color for the garden, something that is not common and therefore desirable.

 

The marigolds did extremely well for me this year, starting to bloom back in June and continuing to bloom even now.

 

 

Yarrow blooms early in the season in my garden. This one lone flower is a new blossom after the plant was cut back quite awhile ago. A nice surprise of color for me. A hard frost may be coming soon, but I will continue to enjoy every bit of color for as long as I can.