Summer sunshine will soon be over....

[Cottonhawk]

...........It was a beautiful summer morning here on the ranch, I was having some coffee on my deck overlooking the garden. The sunflowers caught my eye and I took a picture of our patch of sunshine to share with you all. I did notice this early morning that there was some vine maples started to turn reddish in the woods sending the message that Summer is coming to an end and the Fall is on it's way. I like our Summer but our Fall is even more beautiful....! Do you have some pics to remember Summer 2006?

 

[Thomas]

Morning Cottonhawk.
Yes another chapter coming to end,even the leaves on the hardwood trees are showing a tint of color,and the young swamp trees leaves are showing there beauty...but I wish day light hours weren't also passing by.

Indeed autumn does put a refreshing spring in ones step.

 

[jimg]

Very nice pic! I like Sunflowers, somehow theyre particularly cheery (for lack of a better word). I started growing them when I raised goats. I used them as feed and some made it into the barn litter which eventually got transfered to the garden and sprouted. Not sure what type they were but looked alot like whats in your pic.

Here we have 2 seasons, sunny and rainy, rather than spring, summer, winter, fall. Sunny season is almost over.

 

[Bird]

Do you have some pics to remember Summer 2006?

Nope, I do not, it's just been miserably hot and dry. But your pictures sure look good. However, there is finally some good news. We had a cold front come in last night. Unfortunately, so far I've only gotten a couple of drops of rain in my gauge, but while the forecast was for a high of 86 today, it only went from 71 to 73! Whoooo boy, first time we've turned off the air-conditioner and opened the windows in over 3 months.

 

[Cottonhawk]

Thomas.... If I remember right that NH is one of those states which has extraordinarily beautiful Fall. Our Fall here is beautiful but nothing like the maples in the NE.
jimg..... Aren't you located just south of the boarder? We are just a bit warmer than where you are. My ranch is in the foothills of the Cascade mountains and we do have some nice Fall colors in the Doug Fir forest. Not much of Winter here, but it's just fine by me.
Bird..... I know that your weather in Tx is sure very different from ours here in the NW. It is "quarter horse" country. We go to National Final Rodeo every year and the Tx group is huge, the largest among all other states.

 

[PineRidge]

This is one of my favorite past fall shots here at the ranch overlooking the pond.

 

[Cottonhawk]

This is one of my favorite past fall shots here at the ranch overlooking the pond.

WOW! That is a spectacular Picture.

 

[jinman]

Those are some very beautiful sunflowers, Cottonhawk. As dry as it has been here in Texas, we still had some Texas Bluebells that bloomed alongside the receding waterline at our lake. They provided us a lot of pleasure everytime we went to feed our fish. The first couple of photos are the Tx Bluebells.

Next, we have a Passionflower vine that wroughtn_harv's wife, Glenda, gave us last year. It has the most beautiful ornate blossoms I think I have ever seen. The blooms don't last long, but their appearance has been a great joy each time they have bloomed.

Finally, I'm putting in a mystery flower to see how sharp an eye TBNers have. We had thousands of these this year. That's my only clue.

...and to give proper credit. I have to admit that my wife, Kathy, took all these pictures.

 

[jimg]

Your mystery flower is okra...

 

[wroughtn_harv]

A goat named Vinnie Van Goagt to into the okra patch at Scotts. It was my fault. I introduced the varmint to okra. When picking the okra when I found one a little tough or long of tooth I'd feed it to Vinnie. One day he decided to see what the young and tenders tasted like.

Glenda just smiled when she saw what you wrote about our passion vines. They are spectacular but they can be invasive. We love them.

Aren't ya'll just loving this rain? Friday it was a hundred again and now we're in heaven, gotta love it.

 

[Bird]

Yep, we haven't gotten a lot of rain, but a very light sprinkle all day that's really been great. And while I don't have any of the spectacular and/or exotic flowers some of you have, our big old crepe myrtle is really loaded with blossoms right now. But I don't want to get out in the rain to make a picture.

 

[Nat]

Jinman, I love the Tx wildflowers. Vickie and I stopped at the Wildseed farm all 3 times we visited Tx. Last time I bought some Bluebonnets and some red poppy seed. The Bluebonnets didn't do much, but the little red poppies, sorry I don't remember the real name, have grown like crazy. They are a delicate looking vine, sorta like a Hummingbird plant, but have the neatest red blooms that close up at night. They have run all over beside my new tractor shed. I didn't want them to run up the cedar siding so I stuck a couple tree limbs in the ground and they have 6-8 runners going up and over the limb. I want to plant some around a group of wild cherry trees beside my front porch next year. If anyone know's the real name for them I would sure appreciate it, so I can order some for next spring. Later, Nat

 

[jinman]

Your mystery flower is okra...

Wow, it wasn't much of a mystery was it?

 

[Cottonhawk]

".....we have a Passionflower vine that wroughtn_harv's wife, Glenda, gave us last year. It has the most beautiful ornate blossoms I think I have ever seen......"
We have the passionflower vine and they're doing very well here in Oregon too. Those are sure exotic and beautiful flowers.

 

[jinman]

They are a delicate looking vine, sorta like a Hummingbird plant, but have the neatest red blooms that close up at night.... ...If anyone know's the real name for them I would sure appreciate it, so I can order some for next spring. Later, Nat

Nat, you can log into Wild Seed Farms Website and view pictures of most of their seed varieties. That might help you locate the "poppies" you are looking for. There are lots of poppy looking plants, one of them is the Corn Poppy and another couple that are on vines are the Wine Cups and Showy Primrose. I'm not surprised you had trouble getting bluebonnets to grow. They are tough to start from seed. Most people plant them in soils that are too fertile and then "love" them to death. I've had the best luck by just transplanting the whole plant. That way the plant will naturally inoculate the seeds and they will grow. Also, the best time to plant bluebonnets is when nature does it, June-July. If you wait until late fall or early spring, the plant will not establish. They seem to love depleted high calcium soils on well drained hillsides.

Harv: You are right that we are in "heaven" these last few days. We've had our windows and doors open and the AC off all weekend. Cool weather and a gentle rain that gave us about 1-1/2 in of rain has been terrific. Of course, in Texas we have a long summer and mild fall. Heck, I don't even consider it fall until the pecans start falling in November. Some of our members will be plowing snow by then.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Cotton and Mike,
Two very nice shots !!! Thanks !

 

[Nasty135]

Cottonhawk, Your Sunflowers sure are healthy looking and the very blue sky backdrop makes them even nicer... great pic

jinman, The mystery flower looks a lot like hollyhock to me...judging by the shape of the leaf on the plant... I could be wrong , Do they grow tall or just low on the ground? As the other poster suggested okra , haven't grown okra so I really don't know...

OK so I was wrong again, You are a tricky one jinman....

 

[Cottonhawk]

Ok, here are some large red hibiscus just opened up this morning. They are about the same size as my sunflowers.

 

[Cottonhawk]

Here is another shot with the sunflowers.

 

[jimg]

Wow, it wasn't much of a mystery was it?

Not if you grew up growing/eating the stuff...fryed, boiled, w/ tomatoes, raw, pickled. Also, your pic shows at least one pod.