Autumn Gardening

    There is always something to do in the garden, especially when the seasons change.  And now that autumn is in full swing here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, I recently spent some time harvesting the last of the green tomatoes, planting spring bulbs (crocus and muscari), potting a chrysanthemum, and cutting the last of the hydrangea blooms.   

And of course when I am in my garden, I can't help but notice what this wonderful change of season has brought into my little part of the world.  I love to photograph these fleeting glimpses of what will soon be a memory and share them here.  I hope you enjoy this photo gallery:

A myriad of leaves to be raked:

The shelf fungus is active again:

The birds, like this wren, are returning for their winter stay:

(photo by Editor James Aōyama)

The absolute last of the dahlias:

The hydrangea before the cutting:

And lastly, I love to 'bring the outdoors in' and so I made a little bowl of flowers for the kitchen table, and the vase of dried hydrangeas is a previous cutting from the same bush shown above:

Do you like to garden?  Or maybe do you like to photograph flowers or other plants or animals in your local park or wildlife refuge?  Tell me about it!