Red Admiral

 

I was out walking the gardens to see what the damage was from the hard frost. I could see the damage to a lot of the zinnias. I thought to myself that I won't see butterflies any more. Then I walked over to the one end of the zinnias and this red admiral buttterfly was sitting eye level with me. I don't know why they call them red admiral as the color is more yellow and in others photos it is orange. 

 I have one last bloom on this rose. The leaves have all fallen off and it looks sad with only one bloom. 

 I didn't take photos of the damaged ziinnias nor the shriveled morning glories but this one was one that fades because of its age. My white zinnias are brown now. 

 The front roses are putting out new buds and blooms regardles of me not dead heading them The cold did deform this a bit but there are two buds there ready to open that won't be bothered from the cold.

 My canna lilies were not bothered from the frost so we didn't have a very hard freeze. This canna is blooming late and has two stems of bloom on it.  I will be digging them once they do get frozen out. This is the only set of roots that I will have to dig.

 I noticed the iris likes the cooler weather. I think they are really rooting down for winter. They are all standing straight and tall. I guess I should cut back on them but I worked so hard to get them in there I don't want to bother them. Next week when I can't do any heavy lifting I can use the shears on them. 

 

When I moved away from the old place I left behind a true birch tree. The good option is the neighbor's clump birch is great to enjoy. He will get lots of leaves soon. I remembered from my birch that the leaves all drop in a two or three day time.  That front yard on that property is so strange as it is very short and the whole front yard is in decline to the sidewalk. The house is built into a hill so the only level area the have is on the north side of the yard and the very back yard that is down the hill. It is hard for him to mow as he is pushing it up hill and coasting it downhill to get it mowed. 

I am on physical restrictions with my cataract surgeries so I will not be mowing for two weeks. Fortunately the grass doesn't need mowing but the leaves in the back yard need to be mulched. It will just be harder to chop up when I can finally get to it but may some of it will break down on its own. My front yard locust leaves will be picked up with the grass catcher once they have all fallen. 

It is cold today, but we did warm up to 59 F.  We are told that the cold spell is over with for a few days and that is great.  Fall is definitely here and somehow the summer seemed to be so short. Thanks for stopping by today.