Weekend Life: Autumnal Changes

    Both the autumn and the spring are busy seasons in the garden.  While mother nature brings a full display of color for us to enjoy, we gardeners are busy preparing and planting beds.  This year's autumn season here in the Willamette Valley has had perfect planting weather, with just the right mix of sunshine and rain, and although my heart has been heavy with family matters lately, my thoughts have been distracted by the color inspiration that is all around me at this time.  

I've been thinking a lot about color this season, particularly red and green, so when the weekend rolls around I am anxious to tackle my to-do lists, especially items that say something like 'photograph the garden in the early stages of autumnal change - look for red and green'.  

It's amazing when I get hooked on an idea like this because, for awhile, all I see are reds and greens!  It's like getting a song stuck in your head.  So, here are a few of my favorite songs, ah, photos, featuring red and green:

In the first photo above you can see that Jimmy's maple is still growing strong. I'm not sure what that next plant is - I bought it as part of a potted assortment of plants, of which this is the only one left.  I think it is a succulent of some kind.  Next is the Japanese maple I bought at the Saturday Market several years ago when it was just a twig.  It's really come a long way!  Then there is a spring lily, or what's left of it.  And last but not least, a blueberry branch.  

Earlier, I mentioned planting, and that was part of my weekend too.  I bought a couple of fall mums to plug in, since I love the instant color they provide.   

As you might notice looking at the first picture, I was still thinking about red and green, even when choosing mums.  The second mum has beautiful variegated orange and yellow blossoms.     

Jimmy added two more blueberry bushes to the garden plot, which brings the total to five.  Our first three were planted several years ago, and although it took a couple of seasons until they began to bear fruit, it was worth the wait.  When early spring rolls around next year, we will plant strawberries around these new blueberries.  Strawberries love the shade provided by the bushiness of blueberry plants. 

I started my bulb planting this weekend as well; about half of my tulip bulbs went around the base of the maple tree.  There are still crocus and muscari to plant, and I'm hoping it actually happens before the fall is over!  Although we have planted spring flowering bulbs as late as, well, spring, and they still grew, and blossomed!

All the gladiola bulbs in this area were moved.  It appeared that the blueberries developed an aversion to them.  Sounds strange, I know, but the blueberries started veering off in weird directions after the gladiolas started to take over.  So, for now, the gladiolas are sitting in a tub...

And what would an autumnal weekend be without some leaf raking?  I love to rake leaves!  It's an invigorating sport, and a great excuse to take a look around the front and back yards and see what's happening.  

And as you can see, I did come upon some interesting things.  I found a snake sunning itself on the wood pile, some mushrooms in a shady spot, and now that I've placed niger seed socks outside my kitchen windows, I was delighted to have some warblers visiting.  And, a flock of wild turkeys came through my front yard; about eight or ten of them.  They were grazing through the grass and leaves, looking for food.  This particular turkey came over and checked me out, even though I was sitting very still!

Another part of my weekend involved doing photo shoots for my Instagram account.  Right now I am photographing some of my collectables and have joined the 'Faffing' community.  Click on my Instagram link at the top of my blog (or just click here) and see what I'm up to!  

What kind of autumnal adventures are you experiencing?  Or maybe is it spring where you are?  No matter the weather, there are always interesting changes to see in the natural world.  Thanks for reading!