Fertilizer Friday: Farewell to September

Despite my wacky post of the night before, I'm still home on the Funny Farm here and waiting out the wet weather once again.  We're under a High Wind Warning tonight and they're not kidding.  The wind is really whipping along at up to 60mph out there and when it rains, it sails by in vertical sheets.  So far our power hasn't gone out and that's a good thing. 

So another soggy day has passed and still no progress to report out there in Stone Thingie Land.  I just had to say a hearty Thank You for all of the comments I received on that last post, especially.  It's so nice to hear I'm not alone with thinking the Boss is a just a 'little' over the top.  (And yes, I did read the post to Carl and he just smiled and said, "Well, like I said, all you need to do is bring me the right rock, and we'll have no more problems.") 

Oh, I'll bring him rocks, you betcha I will.  I'm sure I'll be writing more on that topic, lol. 

Carl was making measurements and I was running around with the camera.  I did manage to take some pictures of the garden when the sun was shining on Wednesday night while I was waiting for the Boss to get his act together.

We bought a Korean Maple (acer pseudosieboldianum) two years ago and every fall it dazzles us with it's pretty foliage.  So far it's just gotten a good start on coloring up, but with the winds whipping the way they are, there might not be any leaves left on the poor thing come morning.  I'm glad I took some pictures last night, anyway.

The maple normally goes to a rich, crimson red, just blazing and beautiful with other tints of green and orange, it's a stunning small tree. A garden visitor told me recently not to get too attached to it though, as it's really only a Zone 5 and warmer plant, but we've had such mild winters here lately that we've taken a chance.  We have it situated in a fairly sheltered area, so with any luck at all, it will survive.

It surely does look like Fall around here, doesn't it?  The grasses are losing their color, too and even the lawn has taken a different shade of green.

The grasses out by the Escarpment have really changed color, especially the miscanthus.  There are some mums too, but they're not showing much color at all yet.  I was hoping they would for the wedding on Saturday, but that may be a long shot.

The Spruced Up Bed is still a delight to me, even though not much is going on there.  When I was mad at Carl the other night I went and plunked my behind down on one of the granite stones and was amazed at how calming the area was.  Maybe a hammock suspended between two of those big trees would be a good idea after all.

I know the picture above is a weird perspective, but it's different, isn't it?  In the distance, you can see the trunks of the Spruced Up Bed beyond the Pachyberm. 

I think it's about time to dig that sweet potato out, too.  It sure did a grand job of almost covering a third of the Something Else bed along with my petunias from seed, too.

Here's the view of the dome from the Spruced Up Bed.  If I pretend real hard, I can imagine those lily stalks on the right side of the photo have fresh buds on them.  It would be so neat to have them rebloom, wouldn't it?  But no, it's just the way the light is hitting their leaves.

The melampodium 'Melanie' was still giving a fantastic show on Wednesday night.  I hope this ferocious wind leaves a few flowers for Saturday. 

The grasses always amaze me.  See, here's another thing Carl was right about.  Planting ornamental grasses here was his idea, not mine.  In fact, I strenuously objected to planting any grasses at all, it just seemed like insanity to me.   I was wrong, and I promptly admitted it.  Now I can't imagine the seasons  (especially Winter) without the tall grasses doing their thing.

Zebra Grass is also borderline hardy here in Wisconsin, but so far this one has been performing beautifully.

In the late afternoon sunlight, the 'Yellow Ribbon' thuja occidentalis really shows off it's Glow Power here with it's underplanting of rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'. 

If all goes well with the Stone Thingie, this will be the view looking out of two of the windows facing west.  I'd better scout around for some more spring bulbs to tuck in this bed before the snow flies. 

The famously Elusive Lucille was here on Wednesday night, too.  She had been busily deadheading the flowers in the River Bed for me.  I was burning the old pallets and other assorted lumber when she surprised me by coming over and pulling up a lawn chair to sit a spell.  Normally, she hates the smell of wood smoke, but for some reason she decided to sit by the fire with me for awhile before heading home.  Carl took the picture and at that point I was not Too Happy with him...I think it shows, ha.  Note my lovely camouflage coat and matching kneepads and work glove ensemble.  Oh, yeah, I dress for success in the garden.

Speaking of dressing for success, since it was raining today, I picked Carl up at his job and we went shopping after first dropping off my SD card for my CPAP machine at the doctor's office.  On Monday I have to go in and find out how I've been sleeping.  I like my sleep specialist MD, he's very thorough.  And I can fully endorse the benefits of CPAP therapy.  I know I feel much better than I used to before becoming a Hosehead.

But anyway, back to the shopping spree.  The mission was to find me something to wear to the class reunion on Saturday night.  We went to a LOT of stores and here I have to admit something again, though the Boss is a terror to work for when it comes to masonry, he's a joy to go shopping with.  And I'm not kidding, either.  He doesn't mind traipsing to every store in the mall and even hauled me to a few more miles away when we came up empty at the first round.  We didn't find anything though. 

Yes, I have clothes in my closet I can wear (I know how pathetic it sounds to most men when their significant others have a small garment warehouse in their bedroom and still can't Find a Thing To Wear) but for some unknown reason, this idiosyncrasy of mine Carl 'gets'.  He doesn't understand the frustration that wells up in me when we're working on the rock thing-- but he does understand that somewhere in my feeble little mind I fantasize there is a Dream Garment out there that will transform me into a Lovely, Slender Lady who looks much younger than her fifty-three years.  I think we both hoped we'd walk into a store and there, shining in the blaze of spotlights would be The Garment, ( in stock AND in my size) and the heavenly music would play softly from the speaker system as I floated toward it. 

Well, dream on.  We ended the evening at the fabric store and I came home armed with several patterns that just might work (if I can find the time to sew something new before Saturday).  I don't think it will happen though; I'll have my work cut out for me in the garden getting ready for the wedding party after all this wind tonight. 

OH, well.  That's the way it goes.  I'll just have to wear something that's hanging around here.  (The kneepads will be staying home, though.)  Wish me luck!

Me and The Boss bid you a pleasant Weekend. 

Here's a keychain that Ann's children bought for Carl on a recent trip to New York.  See, it's Official.  He has his own keychain proclaiming his status.  (But I told him he's only the Boss in New York, that's not a Wisconsin plate.)