It's a Mum time of year!

I thought I'd take a few more shots of the mums I've got planted or on display for this autumn season.

I love this yummy yellow color of these mums.  I did add some mini pumpkins and gourds to help fill in around the base.  

These will last a while even after the frosts start to hit.

The ornamental kale made a nice accent with these smaller mums.  At this time of year leaves are dropping everywhere.

Mums or chrysanthemums are a great way to pop in late season color for the gardens.

This mum was in one of my fall displays a few years back.  It took a while to see the flowers but this is a natural blooming time vs the ones we get at the store which are pushed to be in bloom early on.

I hope the new purple ones make it back next year too!  

I have to find a spot to plant these mums- I love the pink color.

Do you plant the mums you get for these fall displays or just toss them?  I've done both.  I've had mixed results with the mums coming back so I'm not always committed to planting them.

Happy Fall!

A Little Milestone and Fall Mums

It's hard to believe it's been a year already!  Our little Grandson Joseph Daniel "Joey" has 

turned "1"  😊

Plenty of gifts and cards for the little peanut!  He didn't know what to make of the gifts- tearing paper off?  What is that all about!  

He enjoyed all the new toys and was fun to watch.  He's such a sweet little boy- observant and loving!

His first sugary sweet treat!  After a little encouragement he figured out how to dig in a little bit and get some bites of cake!  Don't worry he only ate about a teaspoon's worth!  We stayed with the kids from Friday until Sunday and then headed back home on Monday.

Frankenmuth Michigan is conveniently located a few miles off of I75 and after many hours of driving we decided to stop in and have a chicken dinner.  There are two large restaurants that are well known for the large family style chicken dinners.  This time we ate a the Bavarian Inn.   It was round 5 pm when we arrived and the sun was just right for me to capture this shot.  Some trees have already turned color as you can see.

There is more than one carriage service which will take you on a tour through the little town of Frankenmuth.  Notice the grass and florals that I of course had to include in the picture!

A quick panoramic shot inside the Edelweiss room which has a definite Bavarian influence.  

Don't squeal but this is the food they bring!  I ordered the classic chicken dinner with a bit of sauerbraten on the side and Dan did the same except he ordered bratwurst on the side.  I was beginning to load my plate and decided to take a snap shot.  First they brought a basket of bread and chicken noodle soup (tiny noodles), then they brought pickled cucumbers, coleslaw, and a cranberry dish.  Following was the chicken, green beans, egg noodles with a grated breading on top, mashed potatoes dressing and gravy.  There were 8 pieces of chicken so we had planty of leftovers for our next meal at home.

This was the "mini" version of their apple strudel with caramel sauce.  Glad I got the mini!  Dan and I shared it and it didn't last long!

This is Zehnder's which across the street from the Bavarian Inn. We have eaten there the most.  Can you see the big chicken just below and to the right of the sign?

Here's a backside view.  Loaded with red and white wax begonias and a purple fountain grass for it's comb and tail!  They do this every year but I always love seeing it each time. 

Another view

Dan carrying my purchase and heading back towards the Bavarian Inn.  All up and down this street are cute little shops and further up the road is Bronner's Christmas Wonderland which is promoted as the world's largest Christmas Store.  By the time we got home it was about 10 pm.   We've been having a real hot spell (90's) so I was a little worried about my plants at home.

My Queen Elizabeth rose decided to bloom while I was gone but still had some flowers for me to see!

Notice the leaves?  Those came down since last Friday from the big ash tree.  What a mess!  Time for the leaf blower.

While I was setting up the new garden by the driveway turnaround I picked up various mums and asters.  I found some apple crates and plastic pumpkins from last year to help me get started with my seasonal display.

I was smitten with this color- sort of a soft coral/pink with a little bit of yellow in the centers.

I pulled out my topiary pieces Dan helped me make a few years ago.

I found this yummy yellow mums that I decided to put in the top.  In the past I've put a bunch of mini pumpkins and gourds in it but decided to add coco liners and plant them this year.  Here are link's to posts showing the topiary basket plantings in the past and present "2013"  "2014" "2017"  

2015 and 2016 I did the planters differently.

The mums in the lower level are a rich rust color that I found at Home Depot.  Little pots for  $2.98 each.  I found the ornamental kale at another store and decided to group them all together.  I am going to tuck in some mini pumpkins and gourds too (as soon as I get a chance to get to a farmer's stand).  

I just love the shape of the leaves and it's upward growth pattern.  I did plant them on a slight angle to show them off better.

So there you have it- a Little Milestone Birthday and my Fall Mums!

Joining:

Inspire Me Tuesday 

Topiary planters for Autumn

Last year my husband helped me create a topiary affect with my planters out front of the garage.   This is the link to last year's version and how we made it "here" 

Here is a picture of last year's version

 I used a very large pot of mums set down in the planter and filled the topiary top with a mix of pumpkins and gourds.

This year I went for a more rustic look and used some pine straw for a base in the planter and the basket.

Fallen leaves have filled in with the purple cordyline plant.  This cordyline plant was surrounded by bubble gum pink petunias all summer which I recently removed.  I decided to keep the plant for this fall arrangement.

I stuffed the basket with the pine needles and an 8" pumpkin.

Last year in October we went to Pennsylvania to see our Son and DIL and while visiting we went to a local garden center that sells a lot of garden and yard accents.  I bought a bale of this "pine straw" and we put it in a giant garbage bag to get it home.  It's been in the garage a whole year waiting for me to use it!  I have seen bloggers in the south post pictures of using this as mulch but they don't sell it around here so I grabbed one up!

Check out my post about going there "here" It was such a nice place- I wish I was there right now!

I'll show you my "blooper" of sorts...

 

This was my first vision...I got these green swan neck gourds but it ended up looking like a bird in the basket and just didn't look good so I got the pumpkins for it instead!  You'll notice the green gourds ended up on the deck with my last post.

 Same thing on the left side of the garage door

 When I did my post about my "Deckorating" it was cloudy but later on in the early evening the sun popped out so I dashed outside to capture some pictures.

The ash tree has already started letting go of it's leaves.  It's always the first to change.  The maples are starting to shift too.  I think we'll head north this weekend and catch some more fall colors.  I hope it won't be raining again!

I'm joining Ivy and Elephants for

What's It Wednesday

Have A Daily Cup of  Mrs. Olson for
Share Your Cup Thursday 

Between Summer and Fall on the Deck

Well I succumbed (a little bit) to some fall decorating.

I started outside on the deck near our back/entry area.

Getting motivated.  I was sitting at the table staring at all of this and planning what I'm going to do.  (In other words- get off your duff lady!) Ok.. Ok so I got moving!

 I potted up some mums, kale and a rake (oh wait you can't pot a rake!) 

I placed a flower pot upside down inside the pot to take up some of the room and it still took two five gallon pails of dirt to fill it.

 I chose mums that didn't have a lot of flowers opened up on them yet so they will last a lot longer.  It's tempting to buy the most beautiful ones with all their blooms, but since it's early September I don't think there will be anything to look at in October if I you buy them that way.

I took these purple Browallia plants out of another pot and stuck them in for a little pop of color.  In a little while this will flourish and look even better!  Do you know that hardy mums can take a few frosts without being bothered!  

The whiskey barrel style pot I am using is from Lowe's and is made of fiberglass.  I wanted the look of a whiskey barrel but didn't want the large size of a real whiskey barrel.  I liked the looks of this because it's made with a grainy texture to look like wood.

  That watering can is from MacKenzie Childs. I thought that flower shaped water spout was too cute!  (Watch their sales at the Mackenzie Childs web page - you can do pretty good on their sale stuff)  I bought this at least 2 years ago.

This year I seem to be paying homage to more of the farm/country style things. 

The little miniature rose plant my daughter gave me last spring.  I added my little flying pig to go with the farm/country theme.

 The Welcome Friends sign is from last year's fall design on the deck as seen "here"

I will expand on this as the season marches on with pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks and so on but those won't be available until the end of the month.  This makes a nice transition between the two seasons.

So this is my little easing into the fall decorating!   This will give me some time to enjoy this in between Summer and Fall time of year.