Red Mini

A precious late-season red mini rose in bloom.

Rose Hips

Rose seed pods on the climbing vines.

Delicate Weed Seed

Feathery seed pods on unknown weeds in a flower pot.

Light Purple Glads

More of the home flower show featuring gladiolas. I know someone commented about digging these up each fall in our growing zone, and yes, I do that. I don't really dig. I just pull up the bulbs when the stems and leaves wither, clip them off and drop the bulb in a paper bag. I store the paper bag in the garage for the winter.

Late Bloomer is a Biggie

These showy hibiscus flowers don't show up until the very end of the growing season. Each dessert plate-sized bloom only lasts one day.

White Glads

The tallest glads are the white ones. This stalk reached 4 feet high!

One More Round

The roses are putting on one more show before frost.

Sedum Carpet

Love this offering at Lowe's - a sedum variety carpet. Use it "as is," or tear it into sections to tuck it into areas where you want groundcover. I'm giving it try.

Orange Pansy

I've been tucking pansies into the planters this past week. These will bloom even when it's frosty and be among the first to come to life early next spring.

Autumn Clues

The backyard maple is telling us that autumn really is on the way.

Squash Blossom

A squash blossom. I've seen recipes where these are used on pizzas and in other recipes, but haven't remembered to grab one in time to try anything out. To the right is amaranthus.

Ugliest Tomato

Looks can be deceiving....this not-so-pretty tomato is the best-tasting full-sized tomato in the garden this year. I have no idea what it is. It could be a Cherokee purple?

Morning Glory Surprise

An electric blue morning glory on one of the arbors. And yes, those are holiday lights you see in the background. I like white twinkle lights year-round.

Glad Samples

A sampling of glads from the garden beds.

Fall Hanging Basket

As I mentioned a week ago, I had to tear out all of my petunias because they were invaded by tobacco budworms. I replanted with mums and arctic pansies.

A Mini on Fire

This mini rose always bloom brightest late in the season.

Coconut Lime Echinacea

Love the name of this flower, although the outer petals brown quickly.

New Hummingbird Customer

We've seen mostly black-chinned and rufous birds at the feeders this year, this could be either one, or maybe something else? It showed up over the weekend. Any confirmations? I want to say calliope, because it looks baby-ish, but it seems late in the season for that type to be in Boise.

Downy Woodpecker

A male downy woodpecker searching for snacks on the bark of the crab apple tree.

Budworm Eating a Petunia

Here's another view of that invasive species that ruined my petunias this summer: the tobacco budworm.

Garden Scourge

See that nasty little critter chowing down on the center of my Gerber daisy? That's a tobacco budworm, and they invited a multitude of friends to invade my petunias. I ripped them all out, dumped the soil and washed the containers before replanting with garden mums. These worms are hard to shake, and once they move in, not much can be done.

Yellow Stars

I love the mini yellow star flowers in the middle of this hot pink zinnia.

Margarita Vine Finally Wakes Up

This vine is growing from a sweet potato vine tuber I saved from last year. I planted it this spring and it just recently came to life. I'll keep that in mind for the future that they need a lot of warm time to sprout.

Columbine Ghosts

Interesting how these columbine seed pods twist before spilling the beans.

Mixed Up Zinnia

This is a mixed up zinnia that came from the packet of "mixed seeds" that were planted this spring.