Good morning. It's currently 48F and raining with a few rumbles of thunder. Nothing huge (yet). I don't see any freezing temps in the next week. Halloween is supposed to be 70F during the day and 62F at night so probably more kids out for treats. Did get out to vote earlier this morning. Piece of cake to do the early voting thing - far less hassle than standing in lines on election day. Doing some more research in my eastern screech owl theory. I'm thinking it's more likely screeching raccoons. What throws me off is that I hear them from several different directions which might indicate that there are quite a few out in the woods/wetlands rather than owl(s) flying around making noise. I did have 4 raccoons under the bird feeder the other night - all out to fatten up before winter. No real gardening for me this week other than bringing a few more things indoors and trying to find a spot for lots of pots.

The Wooly Bear Caterpillars here are about 2/3 brown. Hope they are good predictors. Gene

Good morning. Currently 46F and cloudy, heading for 52F. I do see patches of blue sky so maybe we'll get a few sun rays. It did rain some more last night so everything's pretty wet out there this morning. Lots of yellows and golds in the tree leaves and when the sun targets them, they glow. Still a lot of green in other trees. Will have to talk DH into bagging when he mows so that I can stock-pile shredded leaves for next year.
Gene - I sure hope your wooly is right! Jim found an all-black one a while back.

50 degrees here high of 55 for today 38 tonight

Cindy I hope mine was wrong , Gene likes snow though , maybe we should trade larvae ,

Here is a Petunia that grew from self sow , taken 30's twice and blooming on

Jim - re: trading woolies - How pretty to have that color (petunias) at this time of year. I have a small-leaved clematis still blooming. It had gotten away from me and has wound itself in my lilac bush. As long as I let it ramble, it's continuing to bloom.
Baking pie pumpkins while I clean today. I haven't used the canned pumpkin for several years now. Not any cheaper but the flavor is more mellow.

I haven't grown and no one has baked pumpkin pies here in a couple seasons , around Christmas sometimes that happens

This an no ID'd ? the picture





I am guessing a Sunflower maybe something like a Skullcap ,, ?if it comes back next season
I might guess .

Rained all night last night , misty like day , it is not raining but you get wet walking around outside

@GardenGlassGems
Hope to see you more often, too!

Currently 43F and Bob's out working on our place now.... brrrrrrr

Crazy day at work today. Phone ringing off the hook and had quite a few rude or just plain po'd customers. Barely take a breath and off and running again. It felt like a full moon day today.

42°/75°/61°
Patchy fog before 10 am. Mostly sunny. Breezy, with a south wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Hi Jeanne!
You are way North of me and will get the worst of the storms that happen to pass over both of us.
I was halfway there when we went to Dyersville, lol!

Cindy,
I'd rather have the screech owls.

Gene,
I saw only one wooley bear so far. They should be crossing the roads in droves.

Jim,
Beautiful petunia! I just love them.
I have a few phlox hanging on and the zebrina hollyhock that sneaks into the garden is doing well.
Probably not a sunflower. MAYBE scullcap. We'll see next year won't we?

Susan,
Brrr from me too! At least Bob keeps warm working.

Pepper,
I never understand rude people. Especially at a store.

Warm today! I had 1'' of rain. I thought I took the guage in, but hadn't!

Thanks for the welcome Susan. It's 44 F outside and cloudy. Yesterday I was out when it was a little warmer cutting back some Iris foliage from one of my raised beds. They are NOID Iris. It looks like 2 different kinds. I want to wait for them to bloom next spring so I know what color they are and then I will place them around the raised bed area.

Susan, Dyersville is only about an hour away from me. How far was it for you to drive?

Here are pictures of the before and after pics of my Iris bed that I cut back.

Good morning. 46F now with sunny skies and a few whispy clouds, heading for 66F. It should be getting windy as the day goes on. The wind is a big topic today as it affects the Cubs home game tonight - supposedly carrying the ball farther left of center field, maybe more home runs. The "region" is crazy with Cubs fever and I hear Steve Goodman's "Go, Cubs, Go" song at least once a day. Steve was a Chicago pal of John Prine (one of my faves) back in the 80s.
General question - What is the adult that woolies morph into?

it is 50 degrees here , windy afternoon ,60's today , 70's tomorrow ,

this morning
Zinnia



Centurea abd Chicory



Castor Bean and Tithonia



Mustard and Cabbage



Choy in a pot ad Turnip Greens





What would it be without weed seed? .. Goldenrod Pod top

Jeanne,
Google maps say 1 and a half hours from Nichols to Dyersville. 85 miles. I'm sure it was that more or less.
Nice healthy iris bed! I use Imitripiclid for iris borers. I see they got your leaves too.

Cindy,
A rather plain orangish tan moth.

Jim,
Lots of nice pictures!

Yesterday and today they are getting rain in California! Good news for all of us. Gene

looking good Jim.
High 77°/Low 64° partly cloudy here today

Really nice garden beds from Jeanne

I like the warmer weather

Some light gardening to do ,

60 degrees and sunny now , stronger wind picking up ,

Sally,, the Petunia is still there Maybe it is a Frostunia

Jim, glad that you liked my garden beds. I have 18 of them total. There are 8 in this area and 10 in the front garden. Love your great looking flowers and vegetables. I grew one Caster Bean last year and forgot to plant seeds this year. I saved all the seeds so will have to plant some next year.

Sally, So are the leaves turning brown because of the Iris Borer? I have not had to deal with that yet. Here are the roots to the taller one. I will have to get some of that Imitripiclid.

Here are the roots for the shorter one that had the brown leaves.

Jim - it looks like your greens are enjoying this weather. And always nice to have flowers into November. We're gonna be spoiled when it comes to Jan/Feb. 'Frostunia' -
Sally - I don't see many woolies here but they might be hiding under leaves and mulch here. I have seen a daytime moth (?) that's in shades of brown/tan with a little orange but I haven't looked it up. Always on my way to do other chores.
Gene - I too am glad about CA getting some rain. Just about the time everyone's rejoicing, the mudslides begin.
My sis sent me some info on a new plant identification app that's being developed in Europe. One photo and the search begins in a database of approximately 6500 plants found in Europe plus some found north Africa. Database isn't currently set up for North America.

http://www.almanac.com/content...

Gene - cool article! Thanks for linking that.
Indoor cleaning is done for the week. Got out to cut some flowers to bring in. Cut down the 5 ft dahlias, saving some of the flowers for indoors, and did a "chop and drop" of the stems in garden beds. Cut some mums - 'Sheffield Pink' - but had to dodge late season bees for them. I'll get to work outside some more tomorrow.