October Balcony Garden

Late October rain was falling while the humming bird perched on the feeder.

Balcony Hummer sits on feeder.

Here is the Anna's Hummingbird close up protecting the feeder from all other intruders.

The Gartenmeister Fuchsia attracts hummingbirds and blooms from July to when ever the frost brings dormancy. Even though the hummers have the feeder, they check the fuchsia bloosoms for nectar everyday. Gartenmeister is an upright perennial fuchsia that grows in pots but will do well in the ground growing several feet after a spring pruning.

Fascinating that nineteen floors above busy Seattle city streets the humming birds have found this feeder, arriving every morning at sunrise and leaving every evening at sunset. Are they here for the fall or will they spend the winter? I will keep you posted.

Fall Colors

Fall Osprey 2007

This is the willow by the pond

Osprey cottonwoods and crab apples show their color.

Vine Maple and the Larch/Tamarack before the wind removes their needles and leaves.

Plant for Spring

Plant bulbs now for spring. Not all bulbs will reward you year after year. This beautiful yellow tulip refuses to bloom repeatedly or naturalize to return and multiply. It can be done but I have left this challenge to the professionals. Also deer and squirrels eat tulips. This tulip was planted in a protected place hidden under deciduous scrubs and surprised me in early Spring. I like the Narcissus family of bulbs and crocus for naturalizing. In addition the squirrels don't eat daffodils. To have a host of golden daffodils plant them in clumps, three, five , seven bulbs to a clump. I use top add bone meal to the 6-12 inch hole, depth depends on the size of your bulb, but this year some critter dug up two sixty bulbs in order to imbibe on the bone meal. I replanted all but two missing bulbs without the added fertilizer. Now I wait for spring. Also copied this from Ciscoe Morris garden guru in the Pacific Northwest.

By CISCOE MORRIS SPECIAL TO THE P-I
This time of year, it's incredibly easy to root branches cut from twig dogwood, willow, hydrangea, honeysuckle vine, butterfly bush, weigela, forsythia and perhaps others.
Simply cut off a branch and stick it in the ground where the soil is well-drained and the site is shady and protected from cold winds; then leave it alone until you see it begin to grow in spring or early summer.

I strongly recommend that you try this. Use new growth from this year and peal off leaves on lower part of a 8 to 12 inch twig. I probably wrote about this before. I did it too early this year so I think all my twigs died. But this weekend with the fall rains occurring every few days is the perfect time to try again. I also get too excited and anxious and start this process too soon and can't keep the twigs moist for rooting to occur. Especially a great opportunity, if you have a mild late winter like you did last year.
You are probably to busy preparing for baby, but maybe some year this will be helpful.

Renewal

Fall is the time of renewal. The leaves need continuous raking and transporting to the mulch pile. In a pile they turn to mush with the summer grass clippings and kitchen compost. Leaves raked directly on the garden beds protect the sensitive perennials like roses. Living 19 floors above the ground I can only visualize composting, but renewal happens on balconies as well. Pots are freshened with mums and pansies maybe an attractive kale. I potted a one foot evergreen after trimming its roots. A bonsai Christmas tree with outdoor ornaments is a renewable feature. While dirt gardeners are covering their hybrid roses with leaves, my miniature roses filled out with new leaves and new blooms. The coming of cooler, moister fall weather and an additional boost of fertilizer gave them a fresh start.
At Osprey we have a wonderful blackberry bush which grows wild out past the barn. In honor of the fall renewal I plan to choose a long runner or two that touch the ground. I will remove several leaves on the runner, cover the nodes where the leaves were with growth hormone and then place the treated area on a loosened area of ground and cover the section of runner with some composted soil. Hopefully new roots will grow from this rooting and next fall or spring of 2009 I will have started an additional blackberry bush. Fall is not the time to close down, but a time of opportunity and preparation. Make plans now for the future garden.

September and October
September and October I could hardly believe my eyes but the leaves of the acorn squash looked crinkled and the edges were brown, FROST! Date: September 8.
Being a California native I will never get use to September being harvest time in my garden in Cle Elum, Washington! The peaches had just ripened to be picked the week before! The last frost last spring was in May! This year I am promising myself to remember there are only 90 days of summer. This the third week of September I must harvest all the sage, thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, celery, and squash (not pumpkins or squash with hard shells like acorn, even though the leaves and stems look dead). I need to cover spread the compost to protect perrenials and mark where my potatoes are so I can dig as we need. I don't leave my pumpkins on the ground because the rain, which has also started, can cause them to rot. I do leave all picked apples and squash under cover where the cool crisp nights will keep them fresh. All the wildflower seed heads need to be cut and distributed. I need to check the wild bee boxes and see if all the tubes are full. Frost didn't touch my tomato plants because the deer ate them first, but if they hadn't been eaten, I could have cover my plants with the green tomato fruit or I could pick them green, place them on newspaper in a cool dry place or I could leave them to hang on the dead plant in hopes that the last few warm sun days will ripen them before the hard frost and snow! Collecting frost deaden leaves and small twigs and building compost piles are all part of the work of September and October. Also this is time to evaluate the successes of the 2007 garden and begin to plan where to plant tomatoes where the deer can't eat them!

Abundance in the Garden

Abundance in the Garden: August tips

By the first of August the gardens spreads filling every corner with leaves, blossoms, vegetables, and fruits. Pick everything as it ripens. Continuous harvest, picking and eating or freezing and canning will prolong the abundance into fall provided you continue to water and the sun continues to shine. An application of blossom fertilizer (the middle number of the NPK label) will help invigorate the plants. Look for a natural fertilizer designed for blossom production because they have longer lasting effects. Liquid Alaska Fish makes a great one for blooms.

There will always be squash that grows beyond bounds. Overgrown squash won’t have as much flavor as normal size, so chop it to noodle size and pour on the pasta sauce or bake it like lasagna. I also like to stuff squash. Microwave squash halves, then stuff with a mix of rice, cottage cheese and some spices, and bake with grated cheese on top.

This year I am going to buy tomatoes and try freezing them. The deer have eaten my tomatoes that I hid amongst the potatoes and they ate all my potato leaves for the first time ever! So hiding tomatoes in potatoes did not work well! Fortunately I have Pike’s Market for local tomatoes.

If you want large pumpkins, you will need to pinch off the ends of a runner. Once a pumpkin has set and is several inches in diameter, cut off the end of the runner so no other pumpkin can form on that branch. Can’t help with melons because I have never lived where it gets warm enough long enough to ripen.

I have never taken a picture of my vegetable garden. I think I am embarrassed because I grow should a free form willy-nilly garden. I experiment on how to hide the tasty vegetables from the deer, so the garden by this time of the year looks like a jungle where a machete might be needed to find lettuce and celery. Pick, eat, can, freeze and enjoy!