As Summer Comes to a Close

The days are growing shorter and cooler.  Summer is soon to pass into Autumn. To herald its passing, my gardens have come forth with brilliant blooms.

 

The Black-Eyed Susan flowers rallied after being nibbled down to the nub by our ravenous deer.

I didn't expect to see any cherry tomatoes this summer, after the deer gobbled down the young plants, but now the tomato cage is filled with a lush, fruiting tomato plant.

 

And, the deer keep coming and keep nibbling, but they've been content to graze on weeds and grass and they've left the flowers be.  Perhaps, they, too, are enjoying the last of summer's bright and beautiful bounty!  

In light of the eclipse ...

  

Here, we didn't experience a total eclipse of the sun, but a partial 80% eclipse. Outdoors, it got a bit cooler and dimmer, but not enough change to cause a major stir. It was business as usual for the butterflies. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail flit amongst the top flowering clumps of butterfly bush blossoms unaffected by the slight atmospheric changes. It was all aglow in the muted sunshine.

Jewel of the Garden

A Monarch butterfly enjoys the zinnia garden

Frog

This week, I'm on a mission to tend and spruce up the gardens (ever mindful of copperheads as I work!)  Today's job was a big one ~ weeding the vegetable garden that was overrun with a massive amount of tangled weeds.  It took me about 3 hours to complete my work, but now we have a garden that looks like a garden again, for which I'm very happy.  As I neared the end of my work, I discovered a frog who must have been making the weedy garden his home, or at least his hunting ground.  He peeked up at me and stayed valiantly until the last weeds were pulled.  The frog allowed a few photographs to be taken, and then he hopped over to the side garden where there is plenty of cover to keep him safe.  It may even be a better place for him to be than the weedy garden had been.  I hope so for his sake!

 

 

The Pleasures & Perils of Gardening

Summertime is in full tilt, and the gardens are humming with activity ... some that is very pleasurable to come across and some that makes one step back and keep a respectful distance.  While tending the gardens today, the little skipper butterflies were frolicking through the colorful zinnia patch.  In another part of the yard, a copperhead snake, one that is poisonous, was enjoying the shade where I was about to clear some dried daylily leaves.  That garden clean-up will wait for another time!

 

 

Seeing Double

Two sweet fawns were right outside the window today, and the siblings obligingly allowed me a few photos I share with you here :)

 

 

 

 

So gratifying to see

Our first arriving Monarch was so happy to find the native milkweed plants I planted earlier this year.  And that made me so happy, too!

 

 

The First Sighting ...

... of a Monarch Butterfly this year ... and hopefully the first of many more to come!

Another Beauty

Black swallowtail visiting potted zinnias on the porch