Pumpkin Compost Pie Anyone?

I thought that this back corner of the yard would be an ideal spot for my compost. Those lattice panels were left in the garage (now turned office/workshop) when we moved here. I thought I would put them to good use. The picture above was taken the year we moved in. I read somewhere that you should not place a compost near mature trees because they would drain all the nutrients - but everywhere I've used my compost, BIG things have happened so I'm not worried about it. In fact, in the heat of summer that Silver Maple and evergreen shade the compost nicely.

This year I'm offering my compost as a buffet table for all my feathered and furry friends. Why shouldn't they feast on Thanksgiving, too? Here, the table is set ...

I used the lattice panels to make three "bins." We used pipe driven into the ground and strapping to secure each panel in place. I try to put "green" stuff in one bin, "brown" stuff in the other, and use the center bin for "mixing." I don't make it complicated. I am certain I mix up green and brown. But all in all it it seems to work. I empty my kitchen scraps in the center, add some stuff from the other bins, turn it each time. In the Spring, I will empty the center bin and spread it around my beds then start all over. I stash my grass removals here - from when I make new beds - any flowers that have fallen over or need cutting back, weeds that have not yet gone to seed, grass clippings, house plant clippings, old potting soil and all sorts of yard and garden waste. The compost is directly across from my shed and in between are my vegetable beds. The layout works out really well. Here was an initial early sketch to give you a better idea ...

Let's see what goodies we have placed out for my friends ...

Petite pumpkin appetizers among the Sunflower stalks ...

A grand Zinnia biscuit!

Some delectable greens I am sure Mr. Rabbit has his eyes on.

(I just harvested some of these for myself today!)

 

Squish jello mold with sprigs of Black-eyed Susan and Cone seeds - yum!

Gourmet gourd ...

Butternut squash - one of my favorites!

Who could resist some dried Sunflower drumsticks?

And of course, there is pumpkin pie with Nightshade berries for dessert!

It looks like someone tasted dessert before the main course, hmm?

My little friends should be as stuffed as I'll be this Thanksgiving holiday. We'll see what surprises pop up in the Spring, too. Hope all of you who celebrate, have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I certainly am thankful for great family & friends, all the little things ~ creatures, for discovering blotanical, and meeting and sharing my garden with fantastic gardeners -
all of you.

Heavenly But Not Blue

I love Morning Glory, specifically, Heavenly Blue Morning Glory. It was so well presented in Kiki's post, Awake With Charm & Spirit, "The Color Essence of Blues." She followed up with another post "Blue Essence Invitation" inspired by Diana, Elephant's Eye, asking other garden bloggers to share their blues.

I am certainly not blue! But sure would like more blues running through my garden. As I mentioned before I am trying, really trying, to stick to this color scheme: BLUE, orange, reds/burgundy throughout my entire garden. I don't have much blue to share right now, because my garden is so young. I can tell you what I've recently planted: Monkshood, 'Stainless Steel,' that I am hoping will spread into a beautiful patch of blue; Globe Thistle 'Ritro', which I expect to rise to the occasion and offer nodding heads of blue next summer; Allium bulbs 'caeruleum' that I can't wait to see pop up; Sea Holly 'BLUE Glitter' - which really does glitter blue and that I unfortunately did not snap a photo of (next year); BLUE Spruce, BLUE Star Juniper, BLUE Fescue ... which I will keep you posted on. But what I do have to share right now, and was absolutely amazed by, is Morning Glory 'Heavenly Blue!'

You may remember the "Nice Driveway" post with the custom built trellis as a privacy screen. Well, the vine that you see covering the trellis is Morning Glory 'Heavenly Blue.' I had planted some older seeds that really didn't come up and then ran across a young plant (about 4" - really) at a local nursery. I just plugged that baby into the ground and look what grew in three short months to this incredible size ...

There is a little Cardinal Vine to the left - in case you look at the larger version of this photo and see the odd leaf shape. I was just amazed by this vine this past season. Just look at this beautiful foliage and coverage ...

However, I did not get many blooms. I have found that here in the "North Country" this particular Morning Glory seems to bloom very late. Any comments on that? Is there a secret I should know?

But what blooms there are, well, are, just heavenly ...

All that remains is what I describe as a "tree trunk" - and it's amazing, too ...

Hopefully, at least a few seeds dropped and will surprise me again next year. But I did plant a Dutchman's Pipe Vine, Aristolochia Macrophylla, a perennial and a host plant to the beautiful Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly. This is the vine that I really had planned for this trellis.

And if heavenly just isn't enough, I have been honored with this award by both Anna at Green Tapestry, weaving a green and beautiful garden for sure, and Noelle the AZ Plant Lady!, a true desert oasis that is always in bloom. Both of these blogs are so well worth visiting and getting to know.

 

This is something to sing about - and certainly not the blues - maybe a snappy New Orleans jazz kinda tune! Thank you so much - it truly is a surprise and I am honored. Now I must pass this along with these words of advice: Post this award on your blog along with the name of the person who passed it on to you and link to their blog. Then be sure to leave them a comment to let them know that they have been chosen.  Choose blogs which you have recently discovered and you think are great and pass it on to them.

A Tasteful Garden

A Plant Whore in Hawaii

Toronto Gardens

Conscious Gardening

Gardening in My Rubber Boots

Our Happy Acres

Diary of a Suburban Gardener

And I'm going to stop there because "7" is lucky! And I feel lucky and thankful, but not blue.

A Garden Blog is Never Finished

Much like my garden, it seems my blog will never be "finished." I think I have changed the layout about six times already. Well, I am new to blogging and of course, must explore all my options. At first it was too plain and the green too bright. And the "violet" color wasn't quite right - but I should stick with violet because it's in the name, right? Then it seemed too garish and the background too loud. Then it seemed too busy with a flourishing background AND flourishing title. Then the title just didn't seem subtle enough and the background was still a bit too frilly.

If I have learned anything about design - it's that less is more. So now I am back to plain.

This has been much like designing a new perennial bed ... Those yellow flowers clash too much against that red bee balm ... Hmmm, I could use some more blue foliage to deepen that purple patch right there ... That spot looks kinda empty, maybe I should add a ground cover there ... I need something "spikey" there ...

I hope you will still enjoy my blog even though it's "in the making."