The Garden - Fall 2010
As we moved into September and beyond, the garden began to recover from the attentions of four vigorous little kittens and their young mother, aka Cali and the kittens, now safely indoors.
The birds were the first thing that bounced back. We had lots of hummingbirds doing battle over the feeders, which gave me the opportunity to waste many hours in trying to get a good photo!
In addition, we started getting a lot of our old regulars at the feeders, such as the Chipping Sparrows.
And, once again, the birds were able to enjoy the birdbath, like this mockingbird, without fear of becoming lunch. This one splashed around for a long time, apparently thoroughly enjoying him or herself!
Fall is the time of the Monarch butterfly migration and I had put up with aphids on the milkweed because I didn't want to spray the milkweed with an insecticide and deter the Monarchs. So what did I see.....
....A Monarch, checking out the Rose of Sharon, when there was a perfectly suitable Milkweed plant 3 feet away!
That's okay though, a week or so later I saw several healthy Monarch caterpillars chowing down on the milkweed.
As September rolled in to October, I started getting in the seasonal spirit and decided to dress up a corner of the back garden in fall colors. You can see a closer view below.
There was fall color in the front garden too, courtesy of this Zinnia "Profusion" seen here with a nectaring Gulf Fritillary butterfly.
Spring and fall are definitely my favorite times of year here and the fall of 2010 was a good one.
