Scanning, take two

My second attempt at scanning the garden bounty. A slight improvement over the first, but I'm still not happy. Have I mentioned I don't do flower arranging?

Here we go. A single dahlia.



Ok, I can do this. Time to add more flowers.




Oops, I left the lights on and got a "ghost scan". Maybe more appropriate for Halloween next week. Let's try again, lights off.




Ok, but my black-eyed susans didn't like sitting out for 2 hours and got wilty.

Let's cluster all the flowers I picked, really fill up the space.



Much better. This will be my 'Picture This' contest entry on Gardening Gone Wild.

Still playing around, I found some grasses. Does that help?


I'm not sure; now it looks a bit frantic on the edges. Let's try this one with the lid down, pressing flowers to the glass and using a white background.


Well, that really squished the dahlia. I don't like it. For comparison: a red background, courtesy of my placemat.


The dahlias are looking tired, but I do like the burgundy background matching the burgundy gaillardia. Maybe next time I'll try the red-on-red earlier in the process. If there is a next time. I'm not sure this scanning thing is for me, and I don't seem to have a good scanner for the job - it still blurs out anything not setting directly on the glass. Makes it tough to have a multi-dimensional image.

What's Up, Doc?

I dug up my carrots yesterday. I didn't have to dig far to find them, because they didn't grow very far. They just grew wide. Very wide.


The largest measured just under three inches in diameter. And not much longer.


I haven't tried eating them yet - I think they may require cooking.

October Blooms

I haven't spent any time in the garden in nearly two weeks. So much else going on in my life of late. If it weren't for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day I probably wouldn't have made it out there today, either. Tomorrow, dear garden, I promise we'll spend some time together. Meanwhile, thanks, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, for the inspiration to get out there today.

Meanwhile, here's what's blooming, without any help from me:

Along the driveway are the mums my mother accidentally gave me. They were so much bigger last year. I have no idea what happened this year, but at least they are still alive and flowering. These are my favorite mums, white with a yellow center:



My only other mums are ones that came with the house, in the garage garden. When they bloom in late summer, they are pale and washed out. Not pretty at all. But the fall version is surprisingly striking, with varying degrees of color:


Also in the garage garden, my burgundy gaillardia have put out a new flush of blooms:


And behind the mums, some garden phlox think it is still summer:


Heading to the terraces, my lone dahlia has survived all sorts of abuse this year, including hungry critters and fallen limbs, but it keeps on blooming:


In the upper garden, Solidago 'fireworks' fills the back corner:


And my wintersown black eyed susans brighten the shady middle:

The ones I planted in the full-sun front are long done.

Along the side garden, Sedum 'Autumn Joy' has gone through it's full range of color, now a deep brownish pink:



Also of note, two edibles:

I picked and ate my second blackberry today:


Yum! There are more coming along, but I don't know if they will have time to ripen:


And in the upper garden, I let some passionvine do its thing this year. One fruit is ripening. I've never actually eaten one. Usually I rip out the vines because they are so weedy. I wonder what I can do with a single passionfruit.


I hope it's good. I know next year I'll regret having let this vine spread its roots this year.

Cobbler, Anyone?

I harvested and ate my very first homegrown blackberry today. There's one more coming along, too. Maybe someday I'll have enough for a cobbler.

Happy New Year!

Many organizations follow a fiscal year that begins today, October 1. In some ways I feel like this is the start of a new year for my garden, too. After a very hot summer with very little rain, my yard was parched and in need of renewal.

Yesterday brought five (yes, FIVE!) inches of rain, washing away the last of summer and allowing the "new year" to start with a clean slate.