Changes are coming

The landscape is changing outside my kitchen window. The greens have started to take on a different tone. Many flowers are reaching maturity.

In the vegetable garden, red tomatoes fill the line of tomato plants and potato plants are drying down. It's only August and I'm not ready to give up summer. Nor am I ready to write out Welcome Fall on chalkboards or wood door swags.

Summer, please hang on. I welcome the cool evenings and mornings, but just maybe they were a bit premature.

I've looked forward to the black-eyed Susan' sharing their yellow blooms and the pompoms of hydrangeas waving high from the flower garden. Oh, I want to clip them so badly but continue to resist.

I have been filling the house with bouquets of zinnias. Husband planted a small plot of zinnias from seeds given at a great niece's shower. They are a gorgeous tall variety with even a burgundy tone of flowers.

This year, we have two straight rows of zinnias in the veggie garden, with four or more varieties. I also transplanted a large number of the plants to the flower garden. Yup, lots of zinnias to clip.

The marigolds have also been a good plant this year. The early plants have bloomed all season. I planted some from seed and they are just beginning to bloom. They will be great for their burnt orange color this fall.

The pumpkin patch has been very interesting. I hope there will be a lot of good surprises under those big green leaves.

Early in the season, I already battled bugs. At least four vines were pulled out.

While the rest survived and have grown and grown, you just don't know how the pumpkins will be. If the bugs infested the plant, the pumpkins may survive but won't be developed correctly to survive harvest.

In other words they won't have the shiny skin and will turn soft way to soon. They won't last on a display on front porches or tucked into barrels and wagons.

I will be searching out the best shaped pumpkins to decorate with succulents. The trend for a few years is to hot glue moss on the pumpkins top and the succulents too.

A variety of colors and shapes of succulents make for gorgeous centerpieces. It's surprising how long they last with just a light misting of water every week.

Despite the change that is announcing Fall is coming, there is a lot of summer left to enjoy looking out your own kitchen window.