Weeds are also easier to pull when the ground is wet. Good luck with all of it.

Finally...almost waited too late to get some pictures taken today.

Sunny and hot, SW corner of the house. I needed to add some cover here since our shade trees are gone. Climbing passiflora, cucumbers, spaghetti squash and morning glories did it nicely.


Hugelkultur beds. Can't say enough about how well these do; just build 'em, and plant 'em...that's all that's necessary.














The bed on the right is part of the "just toss seeds in there" hugel bed. It's held color all season long; sporting a succession of different spring flowering bulbs and fast-growing annuals. There are a few perennials in there, but not many. They'll need to be moved soon so that we can remove the last remaining big, dead Ash tree.




Minnesota Mums (true perennial mums) are beginning to bloom in the hugel/rock garden. Love this bed. It's so diverse.


Some tomatoes decided to grow in there as well.



Dooryard...


Red dahlias growing with red tomatoes ...love it.


Close-up of the passi.

Looks great Chelle!

Dahlias & tomatoes are a good match.

Gorgeous photos Chelle!

Thanks!

I'm pleased that there's still color out there. I haven't done much of anything in the gardens for about two months now. Doing some fair weather fixer-upper stuff with my little cottage right now, but any day now I expect I'll get an undeniable urge to get back out there.

I have iris and daylilies waiting to get into the ground, and I'd love to get out there and find some more heleniums to add; they do so well here.

Woohoo....!!!

Finally!

Today I lifted the glads from the old veggie patch for drying and storing, then also managed to get all of my buckets of new daylilies and iris planted in their new homes.
Some of the daylilies had to be near-drowned to clean them of aphids. I have never seen so many on a group of plants before!
They all look really good despite this; nicely rooted, green and ready to go. Yay!
I still have some community-type containers of daylilies and iris to get in, and a few that need to be moved...tomorrow, hopefully.

Most of the ever-blooming summer plants are still putting on quite a show here; zinnias, dahlias, salvias, cosmos, skullcap, marigolds, nasturtiums, nicotianas, cleomes, impatiens, calendulas, passiflora, and more. Surprisingly, even the lobelia, alyssum and foxgloves are still strutting their stuff!

I am absolutely amazed.

Sounds great, Chelle! And you are so much more diligent than I am!
Robin

Not diligence on my part...truly. Until today, I'd done next to nothing save look at the gardens ...for almost two months. Just got lucky with placement and weather I guess.

Looking at the garden (and its pollinators) --that is my absolute favorite garden activity!!

Mine too.

Today while I was out I enjoyed watching the smaller bumbles on the asters. There were so many that the plants were actually dancing.

Most of the hummingbirds have moved on. Today was the first that I hadn't noticed even so much as a passerby. I miss them already, but I know they're better off leaving for warmer places now, than to wait till later and get caught in the cold.

Sounds like you're lucky to enjoy multiple hummers! We get very few around here. Usually only one or two in the garden a season.

Seeing fewer butterflies and skippers, though still some, and also still some bees, but definitely not the variety I had before!

Well, it's the end of the season, and they all know it...

We do, yes. It's a combo deal here I think; "bottomless" feeders, lots of flowers that meet their needs, lots of fresh-water sources, and the undisturbed woods next door for nesting. This summer their numbers were surreal. No kidding... there were 40 to 50 birds in our yard every morning and evening during the peak months of June and July! Averaging 10 birds at each feeder. Simply amazing! When we left for vacation I made ahead 5 gallons of food (for 8 days away! ) so that it would be easier to keep the feeders filled.

When we first moved here 18 years ago there weren't any hummingbirds, so just keep on planting for them and they will come. A small fountain that audibly splashes will bring them in as well. I run two here; one at ground level for the woodland critters and ground birds, and one at hip-to-shoulder height in the favored hummingbird area of my yard. They love it.

Here, all ports are full, there are three more trying to bounce out the sippers, and out of the frame another was waiting on the fence.


I even saw two sipping simultaneously from the same port this year. They must have been family...I'd never seen that before.

40-50 wow!

I've planted a lot plants advertised as 'hummingbird plants', but they don't seem to care for my feeder, and no matter what I concoct to put inside, they're never wild about it. Some large trees around but no fresh water sources--except the rain! Not sure what the deal is...

I've found that they do have definite preferences. Feeding container type and placement, brand/type of sugar used, water used for mixing it up...even tools used to make the food can make a difference. I don't know why, but they do.

I do tend to make my mixture very syrupy...definitely not clear. I don't measure anymore, but the most loved mixture feels thick during stirring, and has a somewhat beige cast to it...most notable when using a white ceramic bowl or cup to mix it in. I now keep dedicated stuff just for them; the aforementioned bowl, a coffee cup for early or late season small batches, a wooden spoon, and a toothbrush for cleaning. These never get washed with soap...just rinsed in hot water and dried with paper towel. Two things they seem to be most sensitive to are soap residues and sun-baked plastic feeders. No matter what mix you use they'll attempt to look elsewhere for food.

Listening to you all talk makes me want to rush home and start putting my gardens to bed for the winter. It is always so nice working outside in Fall weather. I understand it is raining like crazy at home right now, so I guess I will stay here and force myself to head down to the beach a little later. We have had some of that rain off and on and expect more this weekend. Last night there was a Red Fox sleeping in the sand Volleyball court next door, he wasn't in any hurry to rush off this morning. The ocean is pretty rough and wild very beautiful.

Lol sounds like a rough life Holly!

Chelle would so love to hear more about your thoughts about good feeders and best nectar mix!

Seems a strange place for a wary fox to sleep, Holly. Was/is he okay?

Love any kind of ocean view. Nice!


****

I'm taking a break after bringing down the shade sails for the season. It feels very brisk out there this morning! I did see a hummer though, so I put out a fresh feeder.

Honestly Robin, I just approximate the sugar/water ratio. It begins with a 50/50 mix. I start out with 1/3 of my heating/mixing container filled with water, heat in the microwave to a rolling boil, then dump in sugar until it's 2/3 full. Stir with a natural wooden spoon until it's dissolved, then add only enough plain cold water to bring it close to ambient outdoor temperature. If it isn't close, they'll wait to drink it until it moderates. I think it's too much for their tiny bodies to handle if it's too drastic a temperature difference.

First choice of feeder (the busiest) is always red glass. A plastic bottom portion seems to be okay...maybe because it's mostly shaded by the top section...I dunno.
Second choice is clear glass with a red bottom section and red accents. Semi-shade is best for these, but the last resort all-plastic feeders really should be in shade all day long. The ones that feed here choose glass in the sun over plastic in the shade anyway, but there you go. I don't buy all-plastic replacements any longer...just glass.

Cheap-o granulated sugar seems to be preferred. I tried the more expensive raw cane sugar as an experiment, but they weren't crazy about it. Their favorite brand this year was Psst!. Really...that's the name of it!

I have well water and they do fine with it. I have used distilled and they're fine with that too. Water from a rain barrel seems like it would work as well. I have no experience with using city water, but it that's what you have you might experiment with distilled. If nothing else, fill an open jug and let it sit for a day or two before using it for the birds. It seems to me that I read somewhere that some portion of the additives in city (or softened) water may disperse this way, but I have no conclusions based on personal observations.

Add feeders as needed. I start with one when I see the first bird, then put out another when there's several fighting over it. Very soon after that I put out all that I have and see how long it takes for the levels to drop. In my opinion, food should be used in three days or less in hot weather, but I'll usually leave it for a week in cooler, less sunny weather. A lot of that depends on placement; more sun exposure means it'll spoil faster. It will have a distinctive odor if it's spoiled, so do a sniff test every time you clean/fill to help you judge how long each will keep. I'm usually only able to keep up with four feeders at peak. When two get low, I clean and fill. Then I'll do the other two when they get low (or empty ). Here, at peak, that will be two in the morning, and two in the evening...every day. It seems excessive, but I actually prefer it this busy. I don't have to keep track as much...there's more of a regular schedule.

Metal mixing containers, hot food-water in or stirred with plastic, and use of soaps in cleaning do not seem to provide good results. Avoid them if possible. Plastic jugs for make-ahead, refrigerated, one week or less supply of food seems to be okay. Just don't add hot mix to them...cool it first.

There. Probably way too much info, but I like to be as thorough as possible!


****

Now I'm off to plant out those leftovers! Thank goodness...today I won't feel melted or broiled when I come in.

Thanks so much Chelle. That is very helpful! And I can see I've been doing a lot of things wrong! so next season I'll be off to a much better start!

Yes, He looked just fine, probably very comfortable with people nearby.
Re Hummers, I use a 4 to 1 ratio 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water. I boil my water in the microwave, too. I think the sugar dissolves much better. Sometimes I make a large container but I don't like to put my feed out cold so if I have refrigiated it I let it sit and come up to room temps before I put it out. I like what I call the flying saucer feeders. I think they are easy to clean and some of them have a built in ant trap. Like this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CSH7VA/