Planting the Fall Garden - Mid-September 2014

Now that we have had a cool front come through North Texas (it was 57 degrees on my back porch this morning), we felt like going outside and working in the garden.

This week, my husband alerted me to a fight on the back porch between a wasp and a spider.

The wasp won.  The poison has taken affect - the wasp drags the spider off to his lair.

A female ruby throat hummingbird was visiting my garden and fending off a lot of other hummingbirds today that were coming by to sip nectar.  She sat on the rose bush and anytime another hummingbird came by, she ran them off!

Here she is going in for a landing on the blue salvia.

Flapping her wings!

See her white tips on her tail feathers.

This is the first Praying Mantis I have seen in the garden this year.  He/She is checking me out!

Climbing on the rosemary now.

I'm not sure if this is a male or female.  It is not too large - possibly a male?

We cleaned up the garden this weekend to make it ready for fall planting.  The ratty looking tomato plants are still producing some fruit so we left them in the ground.

Jonie and Clara are enjoying some bean pods from the plants that were pulled up.

This picture shows the summer garden weeded and raked and nutrients (compost) added.  Many of the summer plants have been pulled up.  Believe me - it looks much better now!

We planted broccoli, cauliflower and swiss chard plants - all of these plants are "cool season" plants and can withstand frost and below freezing temperatures.  My husband also planted snow peas and green beans by seed - we are taking a chance by doing this though.  Beans cannot withstand frost.  Snow peas can take some below freezing temperatures - but they cannot take long term below freezing temps. 

Another view of this fall's garden.

My bell pepper plants have tons of blooms now and should produce fruit up until the first frost.   These plants were put in the ground in April and have produced well all summer long.

The plants are covered in peppers!  We will have a big fall crop.

And finally - we had a frog swimming around in our pool today.  I took him out immediately - I didn't want the chlorine in the water to harm or kill him.

 When I fished him out - I looked at the frog's spotted belly and webbed feet.

This frog is very green - just like Kermit!   I will update this blog post when I identify his specific type.

I sat him in one of the plant pots on the back porch so he could catch bugs for me.!