
Garden entrance, 10/3. Today brought the first gestures of Autumn: cool temperatures, a mix of clouds and sun, and thousands of grackles gathering for their annual voyage down South.

Tickseed, Bidens aristolchia, in the foreground, 10/3. A most appealing yellow, to me and to dozens of insects. Five years ago, I seeded a big patch of it elsewhere in the garden and was alarmed by it’s spread the following year. Its easy to identify and pull, now restricted to a few patches. It blooms here in late September, a true harbinger of Autumn.

Garage bed facing West, 10/8. Two nights in the high 20s didn’t knock much down. Once the heat subsided, mid-August, the tomatoes began flowering and fruiting again. I had hopes of fair weather and a lucky, last-minute harvest but…

Squirrels. There were about a dozen plump and blushing fruits hanging on various plants. Squirrels are discerning diners, taking a single bite from each fruit to judge flavor. Once the bite is made, the bugs move in. I had planned this ‘Cherokee Purple’ to be my last tomato sandwich of 2018, salted and peppered on crusty bread with a thin smear of mayonnaise.

10/7. Squirrels here don’t usually eat hot peppers–the Aji amarillo were untouched except by a friendly pumpkin vine. My new favorite pepper to grow and eat, the Aji ignored the damning heat, flowering and fruiting with generosity throughout the season. Medium-hot, like a Serrano, with a sweet peachy-pineapple flavor. Fifteen delicate-looking plants easily yielded 10 pounds of fruit over four months. Sauteed with garlic and thyme for a starter, soups and stews, pickled, and pureed for a sauce that freezes well.

10/3. I’m hooked on the Solanaceae and Amaranthaceae families; beautiful, interesting and useful plants. I’ve yet to harvest the seeds of amaranth but I gladly eat the leaves. A delicious passalong green amaranth in front, “Hopi Red Dye’ behind. If you cut red amaranths for the house, use a clear vase–they turn the water red.

The Garage Bed looking north, 10/7. Peppers, tomatoes, amaranths, Ricinus and Leonotis. You can see where the squirrels have been planting acorns under the bamboo.

Amur honeysuckle, Lonicera maackii, giving Autumn color and berries. Poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, glowing gold at bottom right. Amur honeysuckle is a Top Five invasive plant in Kansas–I fight this plant more than any other in my garden. But twice a year, it is beautiful.

The Small Barrows were a good trick this year. Planted with ‘Genovese’ basil, ‘Cherry Falls’ tomatoes, and Gomphrena ‘Strawberry Fields’. The Gomphrena blooms mimic small tomatoes and I saw several people double-take. “What kind of tomatoes are those?”

Leonotis nepetefolia, the Lion’s Ear, in strong wind, 10/3. A mint growing to ten feet and more, their square stems are thick and very strong. I dry them most years for garden canes.

Leonotis on the lean, 10/8.

Leonotis with Ants. Six years and this is the first time I’ve noticed ants on the blossoms of this plant. The flowers are nectar-rich, hummingbirds flock to Leonotis. Hummingbirds are aggressively territorial and I’ve seen amazing aerial battles over the years.

Plume poppy, Maclaeya cordata, in the rain. They flopped this year and look like giant Alchemilla.

10/3. Not a b/w picture, taken at 5pm before a storm. Ipomoea batatas ‘Solar Tower Black’, a climbing sweet potato, and Ipomoea quamoclit ‘Alba’, the feathery, white-flowered cypress vine, on the pole.

The lacy blue leaves of Rue, Ruta graveolens, remind me of sea plants. Host to swallowtail butterflies.

Empty space on the Main Path, 10/3. Most of the pots that stood in the bare patch at left are now on the back patio.

Main Path Helianthus, 10/7.

Main Path after first hard frost, 10/17, 8pm. Orange flowers of Gaillardia pulchella, a fine plant for most gardens.

Klee set-up with yellow Amsonia hubrichtii, juvenile blue Juniperus, grasses, lilies and flowering tobacco.

The Ride facing East, 10/8. Sagging ragweed in the foreground.

The Ride facing East, 10/24.

Solanum quitoense, 10/3.

Solanum quitoense frosted, 10/17.

View from the table, 10/3.

View from the table, 10/24.

Brush pile on the West fence. Eight feet tall by 20 wide in May, now five feet tall and collapsed to two feet by Spring. The soil underneath the pile will make a rich mulch. Home to dozens of my marauding rabbits, cute Eastern wood rats, and one tetchy groundhog.

Pots holding for Winter quarters on the back porch. Rosemary, Fuschia and Pelargonium.

Lots going on.