Pinespple Sage in Bloom

Talk about a late bloomer. My pineapple sage has started to bloom.This sage smells just like pineapple. I haven't tried this herb yet but I think pineapple sage would go nicely with ham. I'll have to try that next year.

A Pair of Pears

What a lovely pair of pears. These two perfect pears came from a tree in our yard. This was the first time this particular tree has had fruit and it only produced two pears. We do not spray our fruit trees but we do add organic fertilizer in the spring.

Go to my kitchen blog to see what I did with these two pretty pears.

I will need to get out my binder to find out exactly which variety this is but I am going to take a stab and say they are Bartlett pears.

Hardy Hibiscus

I thought this plant had died. I know that they don't pop out of the ground until late May or early June. But seriously it didn't start to grow until July and then I thought it might just be a weed.

I am not sure of the exact variety of hibiscus but it is a cross between red and hot pink.
Rain drops on a red Knock Out rose.One of the few Midnight Blue roses that was not devoured by Japanese beetles.
The gardens are winding down and soon I will be cutting flowers back, throwing out tomato plants, and raking leaves.

End of Summer Produce

Earlier this spring I bought a bag of discounted bulbs. I threw them in a pot and forgot about them. Look what I have now.......Isn't it beautiful. I think it is an anemone. I'll have to check my folder to be sure but I do know that whatever it is isn't hardy and that is why I planted them in a pot. I don't particularly care for bulbs or plants that need to be dug up in the fall, stored all winter, and replanted in the spring. I just don't have the time. But I think for these lovely blooms I will make an exception to the rule.

The photo below shows the Royal Standard hostas that I transplanted. You can also see the Irish and Scotch mosses that I planted last month. This is probably as far as I will get on this project this year.

The utility company, Consumers Energy, marked some of our trees for removal. Thank goodness they came by when they did as I was just getting ready to call the tree trimmers to remove them.
Time is running out on the produce here at 'The Gear'. The tomatoes are past their prime but are slowly turning out a dozen or so every day. I've been passing our extras on to neighbors family, friends, and anyone who will even look my way. Cathy, my neighbor, has been canning. She past along a a couple of jars of stewed tomatoes. I used one jar the other day. I mixed it with a carton of V8 herbal tomato soup and then poured it over some fresh 4 cheese ravioli. It was soooooo good.
The Asian pears are ripe. What in the world do you do with three trees full of pears? I also have an additional 2 trees with Comice and Keifer pears but those trees only have a few pears each. The red Bartlett pear tree is still young and did not produce fruit this year.
Check out the size of those pears. What a pair of pears!Next year when I have a little more time I will try and make pear sauce and apple/pear sauce. I did bake a pear cobbler but was disappointed in the results. R says it was just fine but it wasn't what I expected. It seemed too doughy. I think I actually wanted a crisp or something along that line.

A Special Box Arrived Today

A box arrived in the mail today from my blogger friend Sandy. It was a box of iris bulbs.
R loves irises. So recently I purchased several bulbs to add to our iris collection. But now I have a bountiful supply of blue irises. Thank you Sandy.

I was able to plant three areas with iris bulbs....in front of the house, side yard by the deck, and out front by the fence. This will give me color in the yard between the tulip/lilac bloom time and peony bloom time.

Thank you again Sandy.

Tomatoes, Copper Misters, & More Hosta Pics

We are up to our ears in tomatoes. AND for the very first time we have plums.

In the photo below we have Belgium Giant, Marglobe, Golden Jubilee, Amish Paste, Black Russian, and Early Girl. The plums are a Japanese variety called Satsuma.
I need everyone to keep their eyes open for these copper mister/sprinkler things. They are shaped like a mushroom and have a squirter on the top. I bought these two at Meijer two years ago. They had 4 but I talked myself out of the other two. I really need 4. If anyone sees them any where for any amount, let me know. I will forever be in your debt.
What would a garden report be without a post about hostas? I've been slowly working on my miniature hosta bed. I planted some Royal Standard hostas around a large tree next to the sidewalk. Rather than having all miniature hostas I added a clump of Irish moss and Scotch moss.I really hope we can finish the fountain next year. The blue tarp doesn't blend well with the rest of the garden or with anything else for that matter.

Onion and Garlic Chives

Today I made a quick run to Lowe's to see what they had on sale in the garden center. This time of year is perfect for scoring loads of deals on perennials. They may not look their best but come next year you will be happy you only paid a fraction of the full price.

I have both onion chives and garlic chives planted in my garden. The onion chives are doing great and are multiplying. The garlic chives on the other hand seem to be slow growers. I've been looking for three more plants to fill in but garlic chives are harder to come by. Today was my lucky day. I was able to get three very healthy plants to fill in my garlic chive plot.

Garlic chives have a flatter leaf and a white blossom which blooms later in the year.

Garlic Chive

Onion chives on the other hand have leaves that are tubular and have a light purple or pinkish flower in the spring.

Onion Chive

Onion Chive Blossom

I also bought several dark burgundy leaf sedum to plant between the Autumn Joy that I planted earlier in the year.

I also scored two Pink Double Delight cone flowers. They rang up $14.95 each. Egads! They were pretty ragged looking so I asked if they were on sale. The cashier called over some one who had the authority to verify prices. She took one look at them and said "ring them up at 4 each." Now that is more like it.

It kind of reminds me of a cross between a pincushion flower and a cone flower. Now I just need to find a place to plant them.