Well... today is gray and dreary and misty! Good for the grass we just planted but not good for the spirits!!! I do love fall its my favorite time of the year! The clear sunny days .. the blue skies and the white puffy coulds.... the changing of the leaves... the crisp evenings with the smell of woodsmoke in the air.... its delightful!! But I dont care for what comes after fall and that is winter... we never get snow anymore its just cold and dreary and rainy!! I wouldnt mind it but it is to long!! After christmas Im ready for spring!! Oh well at least I get to enjoy all four seasons and appreciate the beginning and ending of each one! :D The ornamental grasses are getting so beautiful right now! Some have their plumes on while others are just getting ready to burst out!! The older I get the more I appreciate these grasses!! They look good in the summer and in the fall and you can even leave them up during the winter after they have dried out to add interest to your landscape... especially if we get a snow its especially pretty on the grasses! They are easy to grow and are like iron and beautiful accents to your garden... stay green in the driest hottest days of summer and when the wind blows through them they are so delicate and flutter nicely in the breeze!! If you dont have any ornamental grasses in your yard ... run dont walk to your nearest nursery and get some... there should be still some left as they start putting them out at the end of summer!! So plant now and start to enjoy... but in a couple of short years they will be exceptional!! Now is a good time to start cleaning up your garden for the winter.... put some fresh mulch or compost down.... I like to shred leaves with the mower and put around all my bushes and perennials as winter protection especially if you have areas that the wind whips around your bushes or trees it protects them well and breaks down and feeds the soil around your plants!!!

remember our troops in prayer

Its been so long since I posted and I apologize!! Have been busy cleaning out the concession stand at school and getting it ready for the upcoming sports seasons!! My garden is starting to look sad and fall in creeping in! The plants look faded and some are dried out and some just are not producing flowers anymore as it is the end of their life span!! I hate to see the garden die out... I think I need to think about some fall plantings for next year... mums , asters, some more ornamental grasses etc..... the herbs still look good and taste good!! I need to get out into the yard sometime today and start pulling up the old plants and putting them on the compost pile! The bees are going crazy.... Ive noticed this time of year they are aggressive and fly all around you, Im not sure why or what their problem is... but maybe my sister Jill will know? leave a comment if you do!! :D Iam helping to set up and decorate at my cousins wedding this weekend... its going to be outside.. I will try to remember to take some pictures... the weather looks like it will be top notch!! Remember: if you leave up your flower stalks and butterfly bushes and ornamental grass it will give the birds some food and additional places to hide over this winter... and will add a little interest to your garden for the upcoming winter months... if they get covered in snow its and especially pretty sight!! (thats if we ever get snow anymore)!!

" A GARDEN IS NEVER SO GOOD AS IT WILL BE NEXT YEAR"- Thomas Cooper

Red and Yellow Gerber Daisys

Hummingbirds are attracted to Red and Yellow flowers!! They like big drifts of the same color cause they can see it better!! Its like a beacon saying come sip my nectar!! LOL!!! Ive been lucky to have lots of hummingbirds but they seem to be increasing more and more as the end of summer comes! They are getting ready for the big flight to South and Central America!! Ive seen the babies come to the feeder that were born this year, so cute and small and dainty!! You may even have new hummers visiting your feeder as they are traveling and stop for a drink and some sugary energy! Here are some neat facts that ive read and thought you would enjoy knowing: - Weigh less than 4 grams

- Have oversize chest muscles that are nearly a third of their body weight

-can fly up to 30 mph and dive as fast as 60mph with up to 200 wing strokes

per second

- Build tiny nests made of thistle and dandelion down held together by

spider web

- Lay two or three eggs that are so small that a penny can cover them

- Are superpollinators. One hummer can visit as many as 1,500 flowers a day

-Are marathon migrators. In fall, they head toward central america. The

ruby throated hummer flies as faar 2,000 miles, including non stop 600

mile crossing over the gulf of Mexico

- Have amazing memories. They return to the same nectar-rich gardens

each year.

Consider it a blessing if have hummingbirds, Gods creation is amazing isnt it?

On another note I found an awesome window cleaner that works better than any I have ever used and I tried them all!! Warm water and a microfiber cloth (2) . 1 part ammonia, 3 parts water and dot of dishwashing soap!! Mix together in a bucket, dip 1 clother ring it out wipe window and take the other cloth and dry window, Streak Free and beautiful!!!

**** Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all of these? He who brings out the

starry host one by one, and calls them each by name..... Isaiah 40:26******

Pictures of my sweet Kate Trancenda (Soapwort)

Im finally back!! I will be posting soon, some of my flowers look great, my mom took care of them all week and did a great job!! She had hot dry weather, which we didnt have much of this summer so she had her job cut out!! New pics soon!!

Hardy Hibiscus Bush

My mom had this lovely bush in her yard and I had to take a picture for the blog (keep up the good gardening work )!! Ive been really busy in the garden the past couple of days , weeding is a never ending job.... deadheading...... and i found a black beetle like bug on my tomatoe plants and reasearched before I killed them (just in case they were good bugs)!! LOL!!! but they were not they were black blister bugs... they will eat off all the leaves of your tomatoe plants and kill the plant... and if you touch them or the sticky substance they secrete you will get painful blisters on your hands!!! (sure glad I researched before i touched them)!! I heard if you sprinkle them with flour they will fall to the ground and their wings will get gummed up, i tried it and it worked... but i saw another one in the garden today.. i will post a picture for your info as soon as i get one! Remember to keep your pots watered everyday and fed with miracle gro once a week as the plants are very mature and are using up all the space in the pot so dont skip a day watering unless in rains.... in the next week or so i should have some gardening pictures hopefully of a different place and climate unlike where we live....!!!! In the meantime remember to water, feed and love your garden!!!

GOD MADE RAINY DAYS SO GARDENERS COULD GET HOUSEWORK DONE!!!!

closeup of my rose of sharon bush

this is the after picture of the front garden i posted above

Was not in the garden today my husband was back from italy for 12 hours and off again to monaco so we had a few things to get done laundry, purchasing a new tv our old got struck by lightening!! We did get one now i can watch tv again after 5 days without I didnt think i watched much tv but I sure missed hearing it and watching the news and some gardening shows!! Remember when your flowers go to seed, collect the seed and store them in paper lunch bags (thats what i use) and put them in cool dry place and you can plant them next year instead of purchasing packets of seed!! My marigolds that i planted from seed are doing better than the ones I purchased already grown in six packs!! Zinnias do well also from seed... but if you buy hybrid seeds .. example: purple, striped, lavendar, green etc... they will most likely revert back to the parent colors....red, pink, yellow.......the old fashioned ones that you see blooming most places!! So keep that in mind so you will not be surprised if you plant purple zinnias and they come up red!!! Another good flower to collect seeds from is bachelors buttons.... cosmos.... and its a lot of fun and will save you money!!

A happy heart makes the face cheerful.. Proverbs 15:13

Fairy Garden/ Gnomes

Orange meadowbrite coneflowers!

This is a shot of the front of our house!

Zinnias

I found this little guy sleeping in my herb garden!!

This guy was a little busier.. though he is hard to see!! Notice the owls peeping out in the background / and the little yellow shoe!!

The beginning of my fairy garden that i started this year 2009!

Little fairy on old stump i love how the lichen is growing!!

Fairy under the arbor!

Fairy gardens are so much fun it is fun to try to find miniature plants and flowers that work well with the fairies..... if you cant you can still incorporate the fairies among the regular sized flowers, i found trayers in Mercersburg, Pa has a wide selection of miniature plants and flowers!! My mom got the fairies for me when she was on vacation in Maine!! They are hard to find in the flea markets etc.... you can purchase them online with lots of other mini things!! Im trying to use my imagination and create some stuff instead of buying everything!! (thats a feat)!! Fairies are known to live in your garden.... so i imagine they are smiling when they see the pretend fairies and chuckle as they merrily flit from flower to flower!!

Gnomes in your garden bring you gardening luck, and they also do little chores around your garden..... even though one of my little guys is sleeping im sure soon he will be at work!!! LOL!!!

Today was a beautiful day in the garden.... the tomatoes were plentiful, the zinnias are beautiful and the colors were extra bright. The butterfly bushes are doing their job the butterflys are flitting here and there and the hummingbirds were busy and the bees were busy too!! The herb garden is lush as well as the coneflowers... i especially like the light orange coneflowers from the meadowbrite series..... the bee balm is starting to wane and the shasta daises are getting fewer.... it is sad to see the flowers that were once so pretty go away but i guess we have to open our hearts to the new ones coming... remember with zinnias , daises, black eyed susans the more you cut them for arrangements the more blooms they will produce!!! Hope your day was enjoyable and you were able to take a few moments for yourself.....

Legend says that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. The hummingbirds delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation.

"A SOCIETY GROWS GREAT WHEN OLD MEN PLANT TREES WHOSE SHADE THEY KNOW THEY SHALL NEVER SIT IN." -Greek

song sparrow

monarch butterfly on golden yarrow!!

the picture below is one taken out front in march , i will snap a pic later when the lighting is better so you can see the after in July!!!

today we had a little rain , very little still had to water my potted flowers.... ive discovered japanese beetles are attracted to bannanas they come to them in swarms (mainly the big ones)... maybe a bunch of bannans will do the trick to keep them managable?? did not feel well today so was not able to much outside... hopefully on monday i can do more.... so until the next time remember: "An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life"- Cora Lea Bell

The beginning of fernwillow.......

It seems i never update my blog bethsbrightspots!!! but one thing i know for sure i love gardening..... especially flowers and landscaping ..... the older get even veggies!! for years i try to remember gardening happenings the previous year and of course forget!! so i decided to try and gardening diary maybe with a little added of everyday happenings... which is mostly : weeding, pruning, deadheading...... cuttting flowers picking of japanese beetles!!! etc. so here goes a try with my gardening diary and daily thoughts!!! i will try to post most days about recent gardening happenings.... hopefully i wont bore you to much.... if you do get bored ...well at least i will have a record of what is happening in my garden to refer back to year to year!! it seems like every year i have the same questions..... when do the hummingbirds come? why do they come and then leaver for a few weeks.... why does my redtwig dogwood get blackspot every year no matter where i move it ( i finally disposed of the offender)!! LOL!! why do the zinnia seeds take longer to sprout some years than others, why does my spiderwort with the chartreuse leaves get blackspot?? why do some things after years decide not to come back (perennials)... so hopefully my onling record will help me with all these babbling questions and i will get some answers...... and maybe my fellow online gardners will have the answers and inspire me to greater gardening heights!!! The sun is shining today July 25th (at least this morning) and the air is crisp for july..... i have to go out and check out the garden and will be back later to report the progress and i promise im going to learn to post pics what is a blog with out pictures!! oh Lord help me......