Leonard's Springs in the Fall - After the Drought

One fine fall day a few weeks ago I ventured back to Leonard Spring's Nature Preserve to see how it had fared after this year's "exceptional drought." 

At one point this summer we were determined as being under the worst level of drought possible.  We are finally getting rain and the U. S. Drought Monitor Map now shows that we are now only "abnormally dry."

However, only time will tell how much damage was done to the trees and other important vegetation.

 Blue asters in bloom.

Asters are native flowers.

 One of the caverns in the nature preserve.

 The lower cave.

 Happily, the graffiti has been removed.

Now I am happy again.

Stupid gangs.

 The drought has really depleted the springs' water reserves.

 At first I was wondering where the falls were, but then I realized that I was standing where the falls usually ran.

 They are still very pretty.

 I love this shot.

 This is the underside of a massive uprooted tree.

On the way back to the car, I saw this fallen, decaying log that was giving life to new plants.

And I suppose that is the true lesson here.

Life is a perpetual cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

Less than ideal weather conditions may occur, but nature and life go on.

The October Garden

Little is flowering in my garden after this hot and very dry summer.

We are still trying to recover from the drought, and though we are finally receiving some much needed rain, we are still considered to be in drought conditions.

As such, many flowers that usually would still be blooming this time of year have long since set seed and are shutting down for the year.

The surprise for me this year has been my roses.

They have loved this drought.  I have not watered any of them, and even my English roses, which normally only bloom reliably once a year, are now blooming for the fourth time.

Whodathunk?

The Victoria Blue Salvia wintered over from last year.

I love this flower.  The blue is so vibrant and the flower lasts long into the cool autumn months.

My miniature rose, Rainbow's End, is in its fourth bloom.

This is a lovely rose.

The flowers start out yellow, then progress to orange, red, and then pink before fading.  

It has no fragrance, but it is a must-have rose for the garden and is good for a small spot.

Rainbow's End bloom beginning to turn from orange to red.

Dogwood with berries.

The birds will soon pick the berries off the trees.

Burning bush or winged euonymus.

English Perfume, an English rose.

As the name implies, a heavily scented rose.

My all time favorite English rose, which is named after a great gardener, Gertude Jekyll.

This is one of the most highly-scented roses you will ever find in the garden.

My hydrangea has many mauve blooms on it.

I suspect that is a result of recent cold nights.

Milkweed bugs congregating on the butterfly bushes.

Unusual colors for a fall bouquet.

I had to search the garden to find yellow for the arrangement.

Hydrangeas for another fall arrangement.

And it was finally time to bring my houseplants back inside for the year.

After the watering ban was lifted a few weeks ago, I happily chucked the plants back outside, only to have to bring them back inside this past weekend.

In late March I took this bay tree out to the back deck.  Please note the height.

On Friday I had to bring it back inside.

It was very happy outside this summer.

The plants at the bottom are petunias.

Please note the red line in the picture.

That shows just how much the tree has grown this season.

I'm seeing a pruning come next spring.

Gardens and Hope Spring Eternal

Despite the continuing drought, some plants in the garden are flourishing.

I am happy to report that the 4 1/2 inches of rain we got the other week has helped to move us down the drought scale from exceptional drought to extreme drought.  Heh, we'll take any improvement we can take.  And it is nice to finally be able to see some green grass again.  We haven't had that pleasure since early May.

 The butterfly bushes are alight with visitors.

 Dozens of bumblebees were droning around the bushes.

A monarch butterfly atop the butterfly bush.

 Fritillary butterfly.

 This pretty little blue flower is doing well under the considerable shadow of the butterfly bushes.  The only problem?  I have no idea what it is or even if I had planted it to begin with.

Rosie?  Any ideas?

 Sedum Autumn Joy about to go into bloom.

 Black swallowtail.

 But alas and alack, much of the back yard will have to be torn up and reseeded as this grass is dead, deader, and deadest.

If you look closely, the grass in the far distance is nice and green.  Too bad it is such a small portion of our yard.

Update:
Here are some better pictures of the mystery flower.

 While the flowers do indeed resemble periwinkle, or vinca minor, they are smaller, being only about 5/8"across and the flowers form a cluster.  The plant is also not a vine, but grows upright and is less than a foot tall.  The leaves are hairy and rough to the touch.

More research needs to be done.

The 2012 Drought Continued and the Consequences

We had been warned and today it happened.

We are now under watering restrictions, a polite term for watering bans.

 For some strange reason my roses love this weather.

My English roses, which rarely even rebloom once,

have now rebloomed twice.

 At least some of my plants are happy.

 Somebody's got to be.

 This picture is much more representative of how my garden looks like right now.

Note the lovely brown color of the lawn.

 A butterfly visits the butterfly bushes.

Every spring I happily throw my house plants out onto the front porch.

I regain a large portion of my great room each spring.  I'm happy, the plants are happy.  I dread the fall when I have to bring these plants back inside.  The plants aren't happy, they make a mess, and they take up a good portion of the room.

Did I mention oh how happy I am when spring rolls back around?

Unfortunately, we are under a mandatory watering ban and it is now illegal for me to water my house plants while they are outside.  Oddly enough, I can legally water them inside.  Inside - legal.  Outside - illegal.  Got it?  Go figure.  As these proclamations came from a politician, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that they don't make any sense.

Soooo, I had to clean up my house plants and bring them inside a full two months too early.

Bah humbug!

We are not amused.

We are also now crowded.

At least I am still allowed to water my food plants.