Welcome to my October garden! We’re definitely feeling not only fall here, but also the end of the season with a number of plants biting the dust with some early light frost we had last week. That combined with our record-setting September rain has put quite a damper (pun completely intended) on the garden.
Hydrangeas, Japanese Anemones, and Asters are providing the color in October, and those hydrangeas give me joy every. single. day.
I still also have some roses blooming, but right now the border beds look good because of the evergreen background plants – one of the reasons I try to include evergreens like arborvitae, boxwood, and dwarf alberta spruce in all my large borders.
The herb garden is at its fullest right now and our dehydrator is working hard at drying those that don’t last through the winter like basil, parsley and lemon verbena.
That record rain I mentioned earlier pretty much stopped the vegetable garden cold – the tomatoes we’re eating now were all picked partially green about a week ago to ripen inside. As soon as I heard the forecast for heaps of cold rain, I harvested the rest of the ripe peppers, cucumbers, and the dry beans. The corn and zucchini were all finished a couple weeks ago.
And my Emerite beans that I love for the ‘second wind’ harvest I usually get from them in October? A late night visit from some deer at the beginning of September denied me of that…sigh. They ate only the new, tender growth (of course) that would have gone on to produce beans a few weeks later so we’ve been sadly beanless this fall.
What are your gardens looking like now?
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daisy says
October 8 at 3:45 pmYour garden looks fabulous! What an inviting space.
Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow says
October 8 at 1:26 pmYou still have much loveliness there ! 🙂 I am in Western PA and things are STILL not winding down…I still have alot blooming, though the tomatoes and veggies are done now. Sunflowers almost done / another week and they will be over but zinnias and mums and annuals still going strong and if the weather holds some statice that I planted mid-july is just getting ready to bloom now, lol…that’s a bit late but I hope it can before frost hits! 🙂
Shelly says
October 8 at 9:10 amIn our garden we still have a few zucchini in the garden. The tomatoes are done, I brought the green ones in before all the rain hit here too. I have some carrots to harvest yet and a few herbs are hanging on to. I just took off some beans to seed save this past weekend and pulled up the rest of the beans from the garden. We still have some flowers here and there in the flower gardens but not much. Our poor Cosmos took a beating in the wind and rain. They look like a bundle of flowers and broken stems now. 🙁
Jami says
October 8 at 9:20 amI hear you on the beating the wind and rain gave, Shelly – some of our flowers are sadly laying all over the place. The flowering shrubs survived the best for us.
Vickie says
October 8 at 7:42 amGood morning, Jami. Since right now I am still living in town, I don’t have a deer problem. Because of that, and I suspect because I also live in the valley in California, my pole beans are still blooming! I have left a whole bunch of them to go to seed, but the silly plant just won’t give up yet and is still producing wonderful green beans! The bumble bees are happy too! Thanks for hosting. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Jami says
October 8 at 9:18 amEnjoy some of those beans for us, Vickie, you lucky girl!!
Angi says
October 8 at 6:29 amI love the look of your non veggie garden. We’re working adding flower gardens around our property for the bees but I’m not very good with getting the right look I want. Hydrangeas are on the list for next year. I love how they look.
By the way, your bedroom challenge has spurred me on to redo ours. I’ve ordered new bedding – I hope it looks like the picture – and I’m trying to figure out when I can paint it this month. Thanks!!
Jami says
October 8 at 9:15 amYeah, Angi! We’ll spur one another on. 🙂
[email protected] Novice Gardener says
October 8 at 6:02 amGood morning, Jami! Sorry to hear about the beans. But sounds like you’re still enjoying plenty of other fresh vegetables from the garden (speaking of which, your Oct garden looks beautiful!), especially tomatoes. So, I thought I linked up what I did with my tomatoes, both ripe and green, to give you some ideas. I hope you’ll enjoy the post. Thanks for hosting, Jami. Have a great week! 🙂
– Angie <3
Jami says
October 8 at 9:19 amOoo, thanks, Angie – I always like to get new tomato ideas!