Italian Plum Harvest

 About a dozen fruits on the Italian plum tree this year. My daughter and I ate them all, right there in the yard. Excellent. This tree was a $7 special I picked up two years ago at a nursery sale. Hoping for two dozen plums next year.

Autumn Flowers: Zinnia

Technically, zinnias aren't "autumn flowers," except they do continue blooming into autumn. And this one in particular is interesting because the seed selection and location were not my decision. It's a volunteer.

Autumn Flowers: Hostas

Not usually considered a "flower" for the garden, or landscaping, but hostas do sent up flower stalks. Some bloom earlier in the season. Mine are fall show-offs.

Autumn Flowers: Hibiscus

Each flower the size of a dinner plate. And each flower lasts just one day.

Autumn Flowers: Garden Mums

Right on time, the chrysanthemums are blooming.

Rose Colors Brighter in Autumn?

I think so. Maybe they just look that way because the foliage is fading, but I love the late season show.

Pears. Soon.

This tree underwent some extreme pruning in the spring. It didn't hurt pear production. We have more than we can possibly eat. My guess is that these are Bartlett pears. They do not ripen on the vine. We pick them and they ripen weeks later.

Mutant Tomato

Oh dear. Well, since most of it was ripe, I plucked it off the vine. It's destined for the tomato sauce batch, where looks don't matter.

Frost September 12

This is my neighbor's roof - covered in frost this morning. It's been a tough gardening year. We had a light frost the first week in June - so barely three months frost-free. I don't think this was a killing frost, but I'm sure my tomatoes and basil are unhappy.

Busy Bee on the Butterfly Bush

We have two of these shrubs. One I purchased and the other one? I clipped a branch from the original plant and stuck it in the ground...and it grew! True story. I think that's also a clue why this shrub is considered an invasive species in some areas of the country.

Dewy Cosmos

Nights and mornings are suddenly much cooler.

Swirly Beets

A chioggia beet from the garden. It's sometimes called a candy cane, or bullseye, beet. I planted quite a few seeds, but I only have 3 beets. This was the first one ready, so I sliced it up and roasted it. It caramelizes beautifully although the color variation isn't as clear as when it's raw.

Another Garden Giant

Such a big face on this one. For the gardening record: the biggest and prettiest sunflowers in my garden this year just showed up on their own. Well, maybe they had help from a bird, a squirrel or the wind.

Morning Glory

A late summer bloomer. This is not the morning glory "weed" - sometimes called bind weed. This is a decorative annual.

Weird-looking, Yet Yummy

"Mortgage lifter" tomatoes. They're huge. These came from a packet of seeds handed out by Edwards Greenhouse about 15 years ago. Germination rate for the two seeds I planted: 100 percent. Very tasty fruits with lots of meat. More sweet than tang.

All Ready for the Fairy Godmother

A Cinderella pumpkin, Rouge vif D'Etampes, that harvested itself this weekend. I hope it turns into a carriage next.