Twilight Zone sunflowers made it and finally started to bloom. This was the first summer I planted them.
A successful experiment even though part of them were lost to moles who seem to be numerous this year.
As a variety it is small and short. A tiny spectacle among larger sunflowers with a bit peculiar look.
Still have some seeds left for the next spring. Need to look for more different varieties to experiment with.
It is always nice to try something new in the garden but as important is to have something that you can count on. A flower that will not fail you no matter the weather.
Mallow has been there for decades and each summer it blooms with beautiful pink flowers. The only thing you need to do is to support the long stems against the strong rain showers that will so easily bend them.
I guess I should try another color since there are others available. Something to consider next spring.
This is the second summer when I can enjoy sunflowers blooming early.
Happy that I found Ruby. It grows fast and starts blooming as early as in July. About a month earlier than any other variety I have tried.
The color of the flower is nearly brown when it opens and it changes to a mixture of yellow, red and orange when days go by.
My first Xanthos started to bloom today. A new cosmos variety I have tried for the first time and I think it just became a longtime acquaintance.
Yellow is a totally new color to me when it comes to cosmos.
This year seems to be dedicated to annuals. I lost so many perennials last winter and had to quickly replace the empty spaces with something. Luckily had tons of cosmos seeds available to hide the damages.
My geranium finally started to bloom! It took months from the flower to recover from the darkness of a long winter.
The poor thing looked pathetic in the spring – pale and dry.
I started it from a seed and managed to enjoy its beauty last summer. Nice thing about the nano series is that it remains quite small. So in the autumn I took it inside and to my big surprise it survived.
That usually does not happen to my geraniums. The flat is simply too hot and dry. Happy that this little thing made an exception.
For the first time I managed to keep all my three chilies alive over the winter. Usually the long period of darkness and the cruel central heating is too much for them.
It means that I get an early harvest this year. The first chilies are already ready for picking.
And as I already learned last year the Hungarian yellow wax turns red when ripe. I guess I need to find another variety if I want other colors. Sadly do not have much space for wintering them. Need to figure out a solution for this limitation.
I do not know why but I have always loved columbines. I used to have only one pink variety which my grandmother had had for many years. I started to calculate that the variety must have been here more than seventy years.
As a child I used to like collecting the aquilegia seeds. That must have started my enthusiasm for columbines.
Currently I have several different colors and shapes growing. Not as many as I would like to have but I guess there is no limit to my greed.
All of them have been grown from a seed. Up here in the north it always takes at least two years to see the first blooms. Well, I guess waiting just makes it more worth while.
The lake is now free. Liberated from ice and ready for the spring.
The cats are happy. The fishing season has started and they are ready for the fresh fish.
I am thrilled. Finally I can start to plant and grow flowers. My pockets are full of seed packs and I am running around wildly.
The spring came early this year. I have never ever been able to plant anything at this time of the year. It still tries to snow a bit but I do not care.
Only the early Siberian squills are blooming but they are so beautiful and the first promise that others will soon follow.
The nights have been cold and the temperature has gone below the freezing point several times.
Nearly all the flowers are gone and nature is displaying autumn colors. The trees are starting to be bare from leaves and the lake has gotten a thin layer of ice on it in the mornings.
Usually it is gray and rainy but not this year. It has been a beautiful autumn here in the north. Clear and sunny days. Simply perfect weather for the season.
To my surprise my Sonata Carmines are still alive and blooming in the balcony. I did not expect this to happen but I must admit that I am delighted.
I am growing fonder of cosmos every year. I guess I need to start looking for new varieties.
PS. The summers up here in the north are a bit too short for the Sonata variety of cosmos.
Some of us are just tougher than the others and do not seem to care about the coolness.
Having a balcony high up seems to have its benefits. When you look down to the ground in the morning you can see the whiteness of the frost but it does not reach up to the balcony. If the frost manages to sneak higher it does not get as cold as on the ground level.
This usually gives the geraniums an additional month to bloom.
The Mavericks are still blooming and in this weather the blooms last long. The colors remain striking and it almost seems that the pelargoniums are having the time of their life.
With some luck they will make it to December. Incredibly resistant to the cold nights and low temperatures.
PS. Grew Nanos and Mavericks this year and it made me realize the huge difference between the different varieties of geranium. Nanos remained tiny and Mavericks filled the balcony with massive leafs. Both made beautiful flowers and did well in the pots they had.
Gardening in the North 