Flower Gardens, Nature, Telling Me A New Season Is Entering

Rainy Days, Shorter Days, Cooler Temperatures,

Tell Me Nature's Fall Season

 Is Pushing In

     The long shadows reaching out at 6:00 P.M. instead of 9:00 P.M. alert me it is time for the chickens and horses  to be fed and put away into their dwellings for the night.   Safe from predictors, nor worry for me, while I too, find myself stepping into my home, saying goodnight to my busy day.  

     Looking down the path in the lower gardens it is again quiet, peaceful, as daytime recedes, night time seeps into my day. 

     The Goldstrum Rudbeckia are in full bloom in the mature perennial beds.  Impatience in raised flower pots are brimming over with bloom.  A full summers growth and plenty of rain have given the fall garden a lush look.

On the right side of the picture, the Chickens outside run is quiet of the clucking, fussing about who is going to get in the coop first.  The shorter days bring less eggs.

Flower beds are past their prime.  Chickens are taking a drink out of birdbaths.  Won't be long the chickens will no longer free range the property.  Hard frost will eliminate their protection of cover from hungry Hawks flying over.  They will be confined to their outside run attatched to their chicken coop.  Leaves trucked in from the city near by, will be spread deeply so they have place to scratch and eat bugs, worms and grubs that they discover in the 6 to 12 inch depth.  Oh the clucking and sputtering they do so their fellow hens do not grab them away.  

Heavy dew coats the blooms of Hybiscus early in the morning.
Fall brings tempetures in the 40 degrees instead of the hot 70's or 80's like the month of August here in Wisconsin.

Crabapples are ripe.  Dewdrops cover their deep red fruit.

     It's a happy time, a sad time, knowing in a month it might be all gone.  September 1st show it as a tell-tell sign, summer is at an end.  A new season is about to start. Even Nature is a less noisy, baby robins, cardinal, no longer are flapping their wings demanding a bug, a sunflower seed.  I see them fly to the bird feeder helping themselves now.  The young robin, still carrying its spotted colors hopping along the lawn searching for that big fat worm.  Swallows are gathering on the wires, hundreds of them all lined up, getting ready for their flight south.  

Thunder clouds form again.  Coldfront is trying to push out the hot summer days.
Had quit a few rainy days this past week and more is ahead.  Typical  Fall weather
here in Wisconsin.  Summer high heat demanding to stay with loud claps of
thunder, cool air winning out.  I love fall weather.  Good times for long walks,
Weeding and digging in the garden without sweat trickeling down into my eyes.
Gathering produce for the table, fresh and without chemicals on them!

     Its a time for letting go,  facing what is ahead bravely .  My son and daughter in law  first two daughters are leaving for college.  Moving them into their first apartments.

     First time living away from mom and dad.  An exciting time but leaving a big hole in a close knit family of six kids.    They are still just an hour away or call, text away .  Very level headed girls, doing great in high-school, having jobs, driving well most times.  But even with knowing all that, the quiet settling in.  Not hearing those cars coming and going.  Seeing that smile, or maybe the grumpy reply missing.  Yes my own kids grown, in their 50's and 40's experiencing themselves their grown up kids departure.  Letting go, letting God do for them now that they are out on their own.  

     Yes fall brings big changes!

Seeing summer taking a final bow, letting Fall slip into the foreground.  So good to know we can lean on God. 

                                    Psalm 119:50  "This is my comfort in my affliction.  For Your                                                                                                word has given me life." 

                                                                                          Blessings
                                                                                               Kate

.  

Gardens Flowers Grace Lazydays Of Summer In Central Wisconsin

August Brings Times For Peace Filled Days

Today I Can Handle
Yesterday is Gone
Tomorrow Isn't here
Yet

    In my walk about in the gardens Percilla often follows me along.  She loves the attention and the rubs I give her.  She knows how to relax, just let the lazy days of summer float along.  The time is usually 4:00 p.m., the best time for picture taking.  Still plenty of afternoon sun, which has softened with shadows and just the perfect lighting to catch the beauty of color and form in a photo.  9:00 a.m. is also a terrific time to take pictures of my flowers.

Star Gazer one of the prettiest lily I have, and it always blooms last of the
 Lillys.  A splash of color that makes my heart and soul do a flip flop of  Joy
when I look upon it!  It certainly is a show stopper but not at all peaceful.

     Ambling down the garden paths, searching for that perfect picture, I found myself in the Fairy Garden.  It is half the size it use to be, and the glass plates that use to line its borders are gone.  I had to downsize the gardens because of health issues.  No longer having the energy or age to continue what I had started at 50 when I established most of my gardens.  I centered my camera on a neat old birdhouse, and in the picture

I was so happy and surprised to see the neat Tree Frog looking back at me!

     There it sat, just checking me out, didn't even pull back when I aimed my camera up closer.  Peaceful, and unthreatened.  Was his mind on bugs, had he watched me off and on all summer knowing I would not bother him?  What brings peace?  What makes that Tree Frog live one moment at a time?

  

White balloon flower draws a white spider, blending in to its surroundings.
We have so many spiders in the gardens.  Find them in the house too.
Daddy long legs use to give me the panic mode but no longer.  Just work
around them or in house get something to dispose of them so they don't
multiply!

Globe Thistle, a garden perennial has the most beautiful blueish purple blossom.  It is picky to touch but the bees swarm in and out with no effort.  There must be lots of nectar to offer them.  Not a care in the world, just coming and going and doing what bees do. Do Bees have Peace?  In this picture is white Queen Ann's Lace with the Blue Globe Thistles.  It is a very quiet, peaceful setting. 

Queen Ann's Lace is really a wild flower but I let it do its thing in the
garden.  Here it softens the yellow in the daylily setting.  

Three fairies sit on logs from the old Ash tree that had to be cut down.  It was dying from the Ash Borer bug, and leaning towards our horse barn, too dangerous to take a chance.  The Ash tree was large and mature when we bought the property 29 years ago.  Dick placed slices of wood from the tree in the fairy garden.  The setting has serenity, makes me feel peaceful.

Hibiscus flowers bloom just before September sets in.  These are the size of a desert plate.  Its leaves are on stiff stems almost bush like with large leaves.  The Hibiscus comes up late in Spring like the Balloon flower, showing its existence  with slow growing buds pushing its way in between all the other plants.    So many times I forgot it was there and dug into the nice open space of earth, finding out later that was were the Hibiscus or Balloon flower grew.

Here you can see the size better compared to the leaves.

I miss my Hibiscus in red, but the hard winter must of killed the plant or maybe it was that giant root I dug out in Spring, while weeding and transplanting.  Oh my, I need to do more marking where I put things.

Amur Maple is fading and will be soon turning its Auburn reddish color.
Here it branch reach out to blend nicely with the daylilys bright orange.

    Our animals even seem more quiet and peaceful.  Seeing the cats just sitting around the barn on the cool mornings, not in any hurry to get out on their job of discontinuing rodents.
     Chickens are slowing down laying their eggs with the coolness in the air.
    The peacock lost its long beautiful tail feathers when they molted not too long ago.  They will grow back in next spring.

Peacocks - The colored one is the male.  He no longer has the high screeching
 pitch in his song that he would use early summer, its now peaceful.  The brown and white
one is female.They are in the tall corn crib a local farmer gave us.  It is attached to their
outside run pen.  They fly way up to the top to a perch and sit.


Ahhh, wishing you all peace


"peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you; Let your heart
not be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  "  John 14 in Scripture


Kate
  

Summer Slowing Down, August Shadows Bring Peaceful Quiet To Wisconsin

What!  August Is Here Already?

Shadows deepen, greens are becoming prominent, more peaceful atmosphere meets my eyes as the brilliant hurrah of July disappears.  The calendar page is turned, July is the past, the signs of summer coming to an end.  

Star Gazer, an ornamental lily 

Seeing the Star Gazer ornamental lily tells my mind, oh no, that is another sign that Fall is not far behind.  With August arriving, it seems that signs ore popping all over.  Phlox are in full glory taking over the daylilys, which are fading fast.  The sights of ferns, hostas, attract my sight more often than I would want.  I relish the days of Spring, and how did July flit in and out so fast?  

Shades, textures, softly blend in with the fish pond in the Rock Garden.

Hostas ferns in the Rock garden 

     But along with the Tall Phlox the Stella de Ora just keeps blooming in spite of all it's sisters of grand display recede into the past.  There are still a few of those sisters hanging on, giving their best to show summer is just at the edge of another season pushing into Wisconsin.  The rock garden in the background is now a peaceful repose.  Bringing serenity into my view,  restful, calming, soothing, comforting, but my heart and mind cry out to STOP the time table and let me have the exciting experience of Spring, Summer!  Each day bringing me surprises, soul- stirring, heart-moving, stimulation.  

     But........... we do not have control of nature, just like we do not have control of aging.  One year, after another slips by, how in the world did I get 72 years old last April?  When I was young, I could not wait until I was 18.  I do not regret that 72 slipped up and nipped my youth.  It has blessings of its own I can smile upon.

    

 Lauraine Snelling: http://www.laurainesnelling.com/, famous award winning author reminded all of us on Facebook this morning: 

 "We beat ourselves up with the past, we worry over the future

 -THEREFORE we have no energy to live fully in the NOW,

 our God is in the NOW!" 

 I love her books, I love her writings, I love this Quote! 

Now in August the lovely Cone Flower gives a dark spot beauty.

       

Tall Phlox commands attention in a shadowy spot.

Balloon Flower has opened.  Love this little bloom with its
vibrant shading.

The balloon flower also carries a plus.  It  Pops!
Grand kids can't wait until August to find the flower they
squeeze and it makes a snapping POP!  :)  I love to watch them!

Tall ornamental Lilly makes me giggle as I pass by and see its fun spots.  :)

One of the later Daylillys,  Peach with yellow throat commanding attention.

Yellow-dark red eye daylily, small in nature but makes
a grand hello as I walk into this area of the garden.

Serenity Prayer
Lord grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Change the things I can,
and
The Wisdom to know
the
Difference.









Blessings for the Day that is Here!
I am going outside and see
what August 2 is waiting
to give me.  Maybe
do a somersault
like my
garden fairy below!



Kate

Plain Janes In Wisconsin's Gramma Garden Win Review

A Gramma Garden's Review Spotlights Plain Janes

What a splendid greeting this morning.  Thinking of God's great gifts of beauty I grabbed my camera and started shooting pictures.  I chose this one with the tree accenting the mornings dawn as I started my blog.

The dark outline of the tree accents the view, making it more prominent of the other snapshots I took.

     Later in the day I again took my camera out in my morning walk and noticed so many plain Janes in the flowerbeds reminding me of how they also were accenting the center peace.

 This view on my walk, I gazed down at the lower gardens.  The flowers mazed together to accent the birdhouses and tall green trees in background.  It dawned on me how I as a plain Jane accent many things in my life.  I am but an instrument in the orchestrating designs of my gardens.  Inspiration sets the ideas into place.

     I met a little old lady many years ago who lived out in the country.  Her husband was dying and a nun who I worked part time after high school classes,  sent me and another girl out to bring them supper.  We drove up to her plain country home and parked next to this magnificent bluer of color, all shapes and sizes.  It was a garden I will never forget and have fashioned my own gardens likewise.

As a Master Gardner for 26 years I tried really hard to form gardens according to the laws of a perfect perennial garden but for some reason they always turned out to copy the little old lady's garden from so long ago.  One year a reporter for our local paper came out to interview me and take pictures and I was trying to apologize for the messy look and she exclaimed, "  I love this garden, I never saw a garden like this"  Her heading for her article stated, "Kathy will drive you near wild."  and so I found a name for my kind of garden and quit apologizing for the messy look.  :)  

Up closer the blur takes on shapes and sized but the birdhouses

still promenade the setting and take the attention from this distance. 

Here the Monarda start to take my attention, the lilies stand out, birdhouse starting to fade into background.  

Pink yarrow accent the pink lilies that accent the dark red clematis.  One
giving up its prominence to let the other out show itself.  Chickens in
background are hardly noticed at all.

   Here the lilies steal the show!  The white yarrow accents and softens the view.  We need to have a background to have the center peace stand out.  The greens blend the whole picture background.  

     In life I often am just the background, others have the lime lite.  Pride won't step back to let this happen, causing havoc in a once serene setting.  I have learnt humility lets the world progress ahead.  Joining the group to emphasise a needed spotlight. not necessarily mine but ours is better.

Phlox steal the show from the Monardas that were the main point on above
picture showing the Monardas by the trellis.

Sometimes my camera just takes pictures of the Stars of the show.  Lilies both the daylilies and Ornamental Lilies just have to have the limelight!  Their beauty just is outstanding.  Often Daylilies only last one day and the flower fades, loosing all its beauty.  

See in this picture the faded bloom in background.  Needs to be picked off.
Its showtime is past, short lived.

In Life it seems our limelight is short lived and then we are back to the basics.  Building on a foundation that will last.  Our strong point often being just part of the group.  Adding to the picture or accenting another life we share.

Here a group is made of Daises and purple Gayfeather.  They 

share the setting with a trellis and have lots of green as background.

All equal, all doing their job of making this little spot heavenly.  :)

Had to just say that!  But isn't it just like heaven's peace

when we work together, making this beautiful world livable.

                                         There will be times when we are in the spotlight and then

                                   there times we are just holding up our end to make a lovely setting.

Perhaps it is not our time to be in the limelight, just part of the group, adding to the picture

filling a spot that gives strength to the sight as these hostas blessing each other in the 

large rock garden.

God's time is not always our time.
He often holds us back on the
sidelines until it is our time
to
Shine

The stage is set, we have our part
in this beautiful world.
Trust Him who loves you.



Kate

Wisconsin's Residence Fill Many Spaces in Nature

Always Another Home To Go To

A tiny wren spent all of yesterday carting numerous twigs, soft fuzzy
fluff, he found out and about my many gardens.,  Getting ready to
bring his little lady wren to inspect his handy work, to see if she wanted to lay
her precious eggs in the new dwelling.

Male wrens work awfully hard building several nests in different locations so when his lady wren comes to inspect his engineering projects, she will choose his as the best and perfect spot to lay her precious eggs.

I was able to sit and watch this little fellow go back and forth a million and one times just outside my computer room window.  I finely grabbed my camera and took several shots as he darted in and out and was lucky to get the one above and also the one on Nature Within cover picture.  The twigs were twice his size sometimes and it took quit the maneuvering around to get it to go in the little hole.

We have a huge collection of birdhouses on our 27 acres of land and I was thrilled to have this little visitor choosing one so close to my window.  Needless to say I did not get a thing done on the computer for the day.

Thinking about all the other options he had, decided to blog about the occupancies he could of inhabited

.

Maybe and old English home for the country.

Or a high rise.  This home was not good enough and who knows what made the hole in the post that held it.

It could have been a speciality home in the expensive section of town all decorated with available water and coverage of Hosta landscaping.

Maybe an apartment complex that would bless him with many neighbors 

to share his life with.  I can already imagine the high volume of music playing!

Western is nice located by the horses pasture. 

Miraculous our little painted mini horse.

Early American provide antique surroundings and lots of Blessings with the Bless arbor nearby.

Nuthatch raised its fledglings in the church birdhouse with the grand view.

This cat birdhouse is already occupied by a tree frog 

School house birdhouse is old but still livable set into the shady area of third upper garden.

Another shady area by the woods almost hides this

birdhouse completely.

Log cabin was made by an elderly gentleman who was a carpenter retired but still busy making unique homes for the birds.  I have many of his charming creations.

For some reason the sun birdhouse was always occupied until a batch of wasps decided to move in.

This stands in the fairy garden on a fence holding clematis plant in bloom.

New homes sit empty this summer maybe too much traffic along the path to the barn. 

This round birdhouse is usually occupied every year.

Some birdhouses have been here for 28 years, others look old but bought at rummage sales.  We often find neat birdhouses at craft sales or little shops on some of our one day trips exploring Wisconsin outer regions.

More birdhouses hang in the crab apple trees along the path to the horse barn.

Not wanting to bore you with another hundred pictures I will just leave you all with these words:

John 14:2

"There are many rooms in my Father's house, I would not tell you this

if it were not true.  I am going there to prepare a place for you."

My mind cannot fanthem what the hereafter will provide.  Only hope that 

I will remain faithful to His call and Will for me that my eternity will be with Him.

Blessings and Love to you all

Let me hear from you about your birdhouses. 

I would love to see them all!

Kate