Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Early Fall 2013 in Tennessee

Today I will share a few 'early'  Fall photos from Tennessee.  The photo above was taken on September 5 when George and I were in the Smokies.  I took this photo from the Foothills Parkway.  I was so excited to see some Fall Color. (Be sure to click on photos for enlargements.)




Then on September 10,  I took this picture of a tree across the street from us that was showing lots of color.  Pretty,  isn't it????




The rest of the photos were taken on a gorgeous Saturday (September 14) in our yard... We began planting our PANSIES around the yard on this day.  We have 72 to plant.  Pansies will last through the winter here (most of the time---unless it is extremely cold for a long period of time, which is rare) and will add some color to the yard.  They will bloom until about July (when it gets very hot).   This is the Lamppost Flowerbed ---and we also plant Lilies and Daffodils in this bed.




Our Pink Dogwood tree is showing signs of FALL.   Pretty,  isn't it?




Here's a new photo of the trees across the street --that are showing so much color.  I love this photo since it also shows the gorgeous BLUE skies we had on this day.




Vinca is a great Summer flower to have in your yard... It is similar to Impatiens --but is a sun-lover whereas the Impatiens love shade.  They are good to have as replacements of  the Pansies, when they die in July.   Do you have Vinca in your yard?




Here's another photo of some color in one of the trees across the street from our house.




Well---all of this FALL color (except for our Pink Dogwood) is across the street --and not in our yard YET... As you can see from this photo,  we still have alot of GREEN around us so far... I can't wait to see these big trees show more Fall colors... (I will share this with you when it happens!!)




We usually have LOTS of Autumn Joy Sedum in bloom this time of year,  but some kind of bug (or something) did alot of damage to many of ours this year... I have had Autumn Joy Sedum for many years with NO problems.  It's pretty hearty --but this year,  something has gotten it (even though the plants are in different places throughout the yard).  Maybe all of the rain we had this year has caused problems --but I really think it was a bug of some kind (although I've never seen any bugs).... I have sprayed for bugs and put out something to get rid of slugs.  I've also cut many of the plants back.  It's a puzzlement...  Anyhow---this is one that has made it this year (we have a few blooming around the yard), even though you can see some of the brown spots on the leaves... Anyone ever had this problem with your Autumn Joy Sedum?????




I love this photo of my Sweetie as he works in the yard... He is cleaning out an area so that the Periwinkle (Vinca Minor) and/or the English Ivy will grow and take over those spots...  The more ground cover we have,  the less that George has to mow!!!!!  That is his goal!!!!!




Here's another Pansy bed (under the Dogwood Tree).... I am going to plant HOSTA here this Fall --since Hosta do well in our yard (if I can keep the deer away from them). 




Our big Confederate Jasmine Bush just keeps on blooming...  I love this big bush --but we may have to cut it back some this winter since it's almost too large to prune!!!!  We needed to prune it this summer --but there was a bird's nest in it---so we had to wait til the birds left the nest...




PERFECT MOMENT ROSE 9/9/13
I can't do an Early Fall Blog Post without showing you at least one more of our gorgeous ROSES... They are really blooming all over the yard now ---and will do so until the first frost of winter.  This beauty is named PERFECT MOMENT and I took the picture on September 9. 




Finally,  here's a photo looking above our home at the trees and gorgeous blue skies looking toward the backyard.  This was our first really cool Fall morning of the season (45 degrees early that morning --and highs in the lower 70's)....   I'll write down September 14, 2013 as a PERFECT day on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.

Please check out a neat photo in my Photo Blog today (click HERE).

Thanks for so many interesting comments on my 'Sounds' Blog Post on Monday... You made me think of so many more sounds I like or dislike....  I love to hear windchimes and I love to hear a crackling fire in the fireplace.... I hate to hear the alarm clock go off EARLY in the mornings.....  Thanks again for participating... I enjoy those kinds of posts. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Hugs,