Some fall color

I captured these pictures when we went for a walk late morning today!!

Colorful Maple!

Street View

Japanese Maple leaves.

Queen of Fall flowers...

Chrysanthemums or commonly called mums are herbaceous perennials and bring a vibrance and brightness to any garden and landscapes. I specially like them for their various colors and beauty. They make a beautiful fall display and provide a colorful climax before the dormant winter sweeps into the garden. Below is a pictures of mums from my backyard, they are very easy to care for. Plant them in full sun (mine are in partial sun) and plant is pinched to make it grow bushy. Fertilize them once before buds form and beautiful flowers are all yours.

Robot Garden is no more a dream...

Scientists have developed robot plants which act like real plants.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=1066

Heirloom Tomatoes

Here are couple of heirloom tomatoes from my garden. I got the tomato seedling through a plant swap. I am not sure if this a open pollinated variety or family heirloom or a created one. But its name is 'White Wonder', tastes really good compared to the hybrid varieties home grown or store bought.

Pruned Lilac

How does this pruned lilac look like? My cousine who looked at it thought we were trying to cut it down slowly, where as my husband and I were trying to prune it :). We enjoyed the lilac blooms in spring, but we felt the shrubs are getting leggy and decided to do some renewal pruning and ended up with this now. Only time will tell us if did a good job pruning or not.

Lilacs, even though they are not native to America, they are part of New England's heritage. George Washington mentioned about transplanting lilacs in his garden and Thomas Jefferson mentioned about them in his garden book. Most of the species come from Asia and Europe. Here are some spring pictures.

Muscari armeniacum or Grape Hyacinths

Not sure if I will see any blooms..just waiting what will happen next. Check the picture below from spring time, grape hyacinths did well and after they dried up, I forgot to store them and left them outside in the same pot and to my surprise in September when I happen to see this pot, its full of leggy foliage. This year's rainy summers must have given the cold treatment. I know that these bulbs are winter hardy and you can sow them once and forget about them and enjoy the blooms every spring. I wish I could see some flowers from these bulbs in my pot soon.

Latecomers....

I started these Eggplant plants from seed in spring and planted them after the last frost along with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Tomatoes did very well and the harvest was abundant. Peppers and cucumbers grew in time with just few to harvest. But the eggplants seedlings didn't show any major activity and I almost lost hope in them. Now its time to clean up the vegatable bed and I see that the eggplants are shooting out and bringing a smile on my face :)

"Fall" is in the air

Fall is my favorite and best time of the year. The weather is cooling down, trees are changing their colors, everything seems to be gradually slowing down. I love everything related to Fall - Foliage, Pumpkin patches, Apple picking, Hay bales, Hallowean......and finally towards the end, wait for the first snow. This season reminds me of the "Sankranthi" time in the place I grew up and spent more than 2 dacades of my life. Changes in the nature are not exactly the same but the feeling of festive atmostphere is something I love.

Done with bulbs!!!!

Finally, I am done planting all tulip bulbs and now I will wait for them to come out in spring. For a new gardener like me its a tough question to decide on where to buy the bulbs. Whether to go to a local nursury or to go to a store like Home Depot, which bulbs quality to trust. With so many choices available, finally I decided on 2 bags of tulips...one yellow and red mixture and another bag of candy cone color. I kept a few to experiment indoor forcing technique, and rest are now in the ground.

Solo Rose

I guess, this rose could be the last rose for this season, as there are no more buds on my plants and I pruned them yesterday. This wonderful grandiflora rose "Dream come true" (2008 AARS Rose Winner) is all alone in the vase but its soft rose fragrance is filling the air.

Entering Blog world

I have been planning to start my garden blog from several months, but atlast, last weekend's visit to Shelburne Falls - Bridge of Flowers and lovely pictures I got motivated me to share my collection of pictures and my thoughts in this world. The plants and flowers on the bridge were lovely, here are some of the pictures I have captured.