Fattening up the Tree Rats!!

Let's face it, I live in Minnesota, I have woods behind my house…. Squirrels are a given!

Lately the Squirrels have been ravenous, eating up plain beef suet (they don't usually go for this stuff) as well as my husband's warty pumpkin that we have out on the porch…  we wouldn't mind the pumpkin if they'd just wait until after Halloween...

It's no use fighting them, but to keep them from eating everything in sight I've been putting out corn… here are some pics I shot the other day of a couple squirrels pigging out on the deck… Enjoy!!

This chubby guy was more bold than most, he didn't seem to be too bothered by hubby & I having our noses to the windows...

There's another guy out there… check out the planter on the rail...

Look for the bushy tail sticking up in the green planter on the right….

The trees in the woods are all bare now… since we've had a bit of a drought all the critters in the area are more ravenous than usual… I don't mind since growing season is over - as long as they don't do permanent damage.

In this pic you can see them both pretty well… some enterprising squirrel had buried some corn in the planter on the rail, hard to say if it was the guy eating it or not - finders keepers!

Peeking out to say "Hi"

I was having a hectic week this last week… and on one of the more hectic days I glanced over toward the path to my front door, to my surprise this is what I saw:

One very late post-season Day Lily!!  Her sunny little face put a smile on mine!!

Thank You Lord Jesus for sending this little friend to cheer & encourage me!

More Color!!

Just when you think all the pretty colors are done more colors burst onto the scene!!

View looking out from the front porch… the tall Grasses are getting colorful & fuzzy, the Day Lilies are turning gold… and the neighbor's tree (a dark maple) has turned a beautiful orange!

Here's a better shot of the neighbor's Maple Tree...

Looking back at the porch… the Sedum is still beautiful, the Aster is loaded with purple blooms, and the Spirea have their fall colors bursting forth...

Spirea Leaves...

Spirea Closeup...

My relatively recent Scabiosa is still putting out some blooms.

Aster still blooming...

Jacob's Ladder still blooming...

Pelargonium leaves are turning an interesting shade of red...

Phlox is still blooming...

My new little Maple is finally changing color… this is the tree that's replacing the one the bunnies destroyed last year.

A little color still remains...

It was a pretty day today, nice enough for a walk outside without a jacket (it won't last long)… though the color here is way past "peak" there are still some nice trees around… you'll notice the lawns are all brown - most people here don't bother with Sprinkler systems because we usually don't need them to stay green most of the time, not this year!

The tree above is in a park a couple blocks from home, even it has a brown lawn...

I went out of my way to get a picture of the tree above… it especially looks pretty with the blue sky in the background!

Back to my own yard, and I'm still finding some pretty colors, but on a smaller scale… like my little Day Lilies (which have finally stopped blooming).

The leaves on my Honeysuckle are colorful...

Leaves on my Spirea (medium sized variety)...

More Spirea leaves…

That's it… not a whole lot to write about in the gardens these days…

Moving deeper into Autumn...

The leaves are nearly gone from my Oak Trees now, they are still littering the gardens where they'll stay until Spring.

My Asters continue to bloom and (on warm days) get visited by the local bees.

My Sedum is still beautiful… I'm still amazed by her this year...

Most of my Phlox still have some blooms...

This one Beardtongue is still going like gangbusters!!

The blooms on my Decorative Grasses are starting to get "fuzzy"...

My Kalanchoe is turning fall colors, she's almost in camouflage in this photo...

A closeup of my Kalanchoe… I thought her leaves looked a bit like orange roses… very pretty, even if it does mean she's dying :(…  She's an annual I've had for many years & she just got too big to be indoors anymore...

I'm not crying too much for my Kalanchoe because her 2 daughters (clippings I planted & moved inside) are growing strong!!

Brrr & Brrreeezy...

Yikes!!  The temp has dropped and the wind is blowing!!

Wind blowing like crazy!!

Leaves are falling like crazy here in Minnesota, and they haven't even reached full color yet.  In the picture above the large mature tree across the street is a Maple, she only has about half her leaves in her typical Autumn yellow.

My woods are looking more sparse each day… and the wind is taking more leaves away.

And of course my deck is a mess… but at this point I don't care…  It's cold enough that I'm going to need to empty out & bring in my little fountain - sorry Chickadees but we've got freezing temps coming in the next couple nights…

The Squirrels are being naughty and gnawing at the Suet - pure Suet that my friend at the Bird Store said the Squirrels wouldn't like… hmmm… guess the Squirrels don't know that!!

I had my Sprinkler System blown out, it needed to be done to keep from risking the system once a freeze occurs… I've decided to stop watering in general now & let the garden start going dormant, it's time, the work that didn't get finished this season will be waiting for me when Spring arrives… personally I'm ready for some rest from the gardens.  All that's left is for Jeff to mulch the leaves into the lawn a couple times before the Sn*w falls (sorry about the 4-letter word).  It's been a good season!!

Early October in my Gardens...

Here are some pictures I took in my yard today…

A tree at the edge of my woods is decked out in greens & yellows with just a touch of orange...

An annual that's still giving blooms...

Another annual...

This honeysuckle, one of 3 in my gardens, is still blooming… amazing!

One of my oaks is quite golden...

Oak leaves..

Rhoda & Dendra - my rhododendron twins… all dressed up for Fall!!

Rhododendron closeup...

Ninebark…

…again...

Aster, bright pink, covered with blooms… unfortunately she's become a bunny meal again… argh!!

Aster, purple, no bunny nibbling on this one… phew!!

This Sedum is outrageous this year… why can't she do this every year?

My Petunias aren't doing so well these days (they're potted)… but I'm still getting some blooms.

So glad I got this Beardtongue this year… look forward to seeing what she does in Spring!

Still going… even though...

…her leaves are beginning to turn red...

I just couldn't resist one more closeup of the leaves on my rhododendrons…  I sure hope the twins grow to be nice & big someday!!

Hope you're enjoying Fall where you live!!