Fall Flowers

Even though everyone here in NOVA keeps commenting on how warm it is, it is Fall to me. The mornings are cooler, spider webs dot the lawns and
bushes, and the air even smells different.

This has been a less than steller year of gardening for me. New house, new yard, figuring out the soil and sunny spots. My zinnias are finally making a splash. They love the cooler temperatures. The lavender I planted this spring has been very happy, and it is blooming quite late. I love to brush my hand over it as I walk into our house.



It's time to mark out the flower beds I plan to use next spring and move a few bushes out of prime sunny areas. I have a huge oak leaf hydranga waiting for me to dig its new home in our back yard. I had fun last week removing the spent overgrown summer annuals and replacing them with bright pansies. Please note the beautiful brick color of the pansy below.

Yes, I decided I had to have brick colored pansies, not burgundy. The orange tones in this variety would add just the right punch to the yellow and orange pansies and coordinate with our home's brick color. Really - I read it in Southern Living myself.

So after buying normal priced pansies at Lowe's, a friend and I went to a fancy nursery. My flat of special, perfectly colored pansies cost more than two large hydrangas put together. You can bet your gardening gloves that I have fertilized these babies.

I will not comment on how much money I could have saved if we had driven to Walmart, where I saw brick colored pansies three days after I planted my nursery guaranteed, special named variety. My friend K assures me that my pansies will grow so much better.


I think she's lying.