Where did the summer go?

It is hard to believe fall is here, but it is, and I have very little to show for it if you expect a bountiful garden or a manicured yard.  On the other hand, the summer provided many opportunities to be outdoors, enjoy the work of previous summers, and weed, weed, weed!

In just a week the fall season opens for Project Feeder Watch, a citizen science program through Cornell University that I have been active in for at least 10 years. I can't wait!

It will definitely be exciting and fun, but I cannot imagine a season like the past one; in January my yard suddenly became the hangout and watering spot for a most beautiful hummingbird; one that I tried multiple times to photograph. Finally after sitting in the yard for several hours camera poised to snap, I got a the above shots on 2/24/2011.  I had a Broad-Billed Hummingbird.  It took several more months to get confirmation, however in August I received an email from the Florida Orinthological Association -the sighting was confirmed - only the 4th sighting in the whole state of Florida, and the first in Central Florida! I am still beyond excited!  So now my painted bunting visitors are beginning to filter in for the winter, and I am wondering - could a vagabond hummingbird find his way back to my yard again this year?

So back to my summer!  It gave me time to trim and shape my hedges since last winter was hard and many plants were nipped down almost to the ground.  It's helpful for mother nature to do the trimming from time to time.  Otherwise the hedge height and the fullness of the trees and bushes look overgrown for a small yard like mine. 

In addition, I am really, really good at dividing and multiplying some of stand-by perenials, so my borders and beds have slowly taken on a ribbony flow and the concentrations of blooms have made the heat tolerant few plants look stunning when everything else begins to wilt.

One of the biggest challenges I had this year are ants.... millions and millions of them, march up one tree and down the next, across the sidewalk and through the borders, around the door frames and into the crevices in the walls.  I pride myself on being willing to let nature be nature, but I finally had to call a halt when they started marching through my house.  I could never tell if boric acid was keeping their numbers down, so I finally caved and called a pest service; they tell me the treatment they are using is "environmentally friendly," I can only hope that's true, and once I am sure the ants have called off attacking my house, I can return to less militant ways.