Mountain-Sprite's Blog

Hot Weather with a Hint of Autumn
Sep 22, 2009 | 8:07 PM PST
Tags: Mountain Gardening , Fall folliage , Pumpkins

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN!!!

It's been awhile garden buddies. I've been busy babysitting as usual, but have been able to mark the passing of the season with my cell phone while driving down the mountain on my way to the flatlands. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This beautiful tree is in our neighbor's yard and it is NOT native to our area. I think she said it was from one of the Carolina's. I can't remember which all I do know is that I wish I had a stand of them on my property line!

The leaves on the maple by the kitchen window are beginning to turn gold. That's all we get here, all of you east coasters get the vibrant reds. The leaves on my Virginia Creeper have just a hint of crimson, orange and amber; the plums will soon follow. The ferns are turning golden and the black locust trees are starting to turn amber and send down showers of golden leaves.

The other day while driving down the mountain a breeze blew a bunch of oak leaves across the highway as I drove by and I sighed, "Ahhh yes, Autumn is finally here." I wait for this season all year long. My fingers are itching to get out the Halloween decorations and Autumn flags. I'd love to pop a few mums in the ground before it gets too cold, but I don't know if I'll have time to care for them this year. The summer squash is still producing and we've had a pretty good crop out of two plants. I'm happy to say that endeavor was successful. Now the pumpkins I have my doubts about...

And I have a question for all of you green thumb genius' out there...my pumpkin patch is loaded with flowers that have frequent busy bee visitors, but I've yet to see any pumpkins forming. Also the leaves on one plant look a little patchy and faded in spots (you can see some of the discoloration in the photo above), but they are still very green. I planted them in MIracle Grow potting soil and have added some Miracle Grow time release pellets about 3 weeks ago. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe I planted them too late. I live at almost 6000 ft in the mountains. The patch down the mountain, in the flatlands,  has oodles of pumpkins and the plants are huge, but they are in an open field. Any insight you guys could give me would be much appreciated. I look forward to all of your comments and advice...Woopee! I just found out I have tomorrow off, so I can hang around the house and twitter around in my garden.

Happy Fall Y'All!