fall flowers

I ought to cut these down, since I'm allergic to goldenrod, but they're just too pretty to kill.

Since goldenrod pollen (unlike ragweed) is very heavy, it doesn't really bother me out in the yard; the problem is when I drive with my windows open along roads where it's blooming all over the ditches. I should drive with my windows closed and use the air conditioner, and avoid itching eyes and stuffy nose for a day after, but somehow I don't.

Other wild plants I cherish in my yard:

I let most of the poke weed grow. The birds love it, and are working hard to spread it around.

Almost finished, there.

waterfall at work

My boss has been talking about building a koi pond in the atrium for years, and saying it would be nice to have a waterfall, too. I was picturing some water trickling slowly over rocks for a total fall of about a foot. What she was picturing….

Again with the deja vu

Last time there was snow.

Again, it completely missed the cars, and this time it didn't even block where I turn around.

It's not as long as the one last winter, but it's as large.

I'm grateful this tree is no closer to the house.

determined germination

This must be a seedling from last year's marigolds in pots on the steps, because this year's marigolds have been nowhere nearby. 

The violets and the crabgrass are also pretty happy in that crack, which collects pine needles all winter. 

cayenne for a year

This year's cayenne pepper crop was successful. There are six drying up there, although they don't show up well enough to count. Since I seldom use it for anything but quiche (which I make about once a week) that should last me more than a year, once it has dried and I've ground it in the coffee grinder.

Satisfying.

chicken heritage

As I was growing up, I frequently heard my grandmother and her younger sister argue--acrimoniously--about which breed of chicken was preferable. My grandmother strongly favored Buff Orpingtons: "good layers and good meat birds both" she said. My aunt would snort and say "White Leghorns! Nothing lays better! And they produce plenty of meat, too!" When I was old enough to read up on chickens, I agreed with my grandmother, but I didn't say so when they got to arguing, because after all, I'd never kept chickens, and they had, although not for many, many years.

Then, after my father moved in with me, I was going through papers from his basement, (there are still tons to go) and found a letter to my grandmother from her mother. This printed return address on the envelope looks as though she herself sold Brown Leghorns. I distinctly remember that Sis didn't say just "Leghorns," she'd say "White Leghorns," so neither sister followed in her mother's footsteps completely.

In recent years, I have thought I ought to try bantams, since as a single person I don't get through a whole lot of eggs, even though I do bake a lot, but by the time I actually get around to trying this I don't know if the breeds will still exist.

volunteers

Here are some of what's come up in my yard while I haven't had time to weed. Lucky me.

I've always loved cornflowers, but I've never had them growing anywhere but the roadside--when I had a roadside. These are in the middle of my peonies somehow. The blue is much more intense than it looks here, but not really darker.

I love Queen Anne's lace even more. This is growing in the cracks in the pavement, so when it dies back this fall I'll need to remove it, but I plan to enjoy it now.

I can't see them from the house, or even the deck, so they're mostly going to be enjoyed as cut flowers.

Here is something I don't recognize. It came up between the cobblestones of my patio, among a lot of other woody plants that don't flower, and that I haven't had time to pull when young, and that now I'll have to dig painfully out.

Unlike the cornflowers, the camera gets the accurate color here.

And last but not least, not volunteers but conscripts: