@Artemisia thank you!
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I never knew that. I have them everywhere. Iām glad the dogs and cats havenāt gotten sick! I have a few of them hanging. I need to get the rest of them out of reach.
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Thatās an amazing plant. I have never seen it before. And the Monarch is beautiful
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Thank you love! 
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My pineapple may be ready? Iām not sure until I cut into it. It smells like a pineapple. It has a few brown spots, so I was worried it would rot on the plant. Itās a misfit pineapple, but thatās okay. Iām a misfit too.
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Look at that! It is so cool that you grew your own pineapple @Ostara 
Iām no expert, but it looks great to me! Let us know how it tastes if you decide to eat it 
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My first one was a misfit, too. It seemed so small and cute. Keep going with the plant and see if the next one works out better. Until then, enjoy the pucker power!
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Oh thatās wonderful! Let us know how it tastes!
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Would love to see pics of everyoneās fall gardens. I think overall my garden was successful. But it was less tidy than in the past since most of my summer was spent watering the many many plants I added to the garden this year. And I havenāt stopped-just got poppy plants in the mail yesterday and going to a plant sale at a local community garden next Saturday (really hoping to get my hands on blue globe thistle and sea holly which I know they have on the for sale list-I go stare at those plants every time I visit their gardens).
Blue globe thistle (pic source - Buy Blue Glow Globe Thistle Plant | Sun Perennials | Breck's )
The deer ate all the leaves off my poor grape vine. I hope it comes back next year. At the moment Iām not seeing any new growth. Does anyone else have experience with grapevines and deer? This vine was new for me this year. I guess I should be happy they didnāt eat everything earlier in the season.
My false sunflowers. Iām obssessed with these right now. Most of them are taller than I am. And so cheerful. As a bonus, one of my last monarch cats crawled to the top of the arbor bench these sunflowers are planted behind and created itās chrysalis. About another week and a half before it is due to emerge.
My garlic chives have surprised me with a late bloom.
I just put in this snowberry bush a few weeks ago. I did it in hopes of encouraging more hummingbugs.
This is a snowberry clearwing moth aka hummingbird moth or hummingbug because they fly and hover just like a hummingbird. There are other types of hummingbugs and Iām lucky enough to have this one and the hummingbird clearwing moth visit my butterfly bush throughout the summer. The snowberry bush hosts their caterpillars. Pic source Snowberry Clearwing Moth | Mike Powell
My hibiscus went nuts this year. This was given to me by two dear friends after my mother passed a few years ago. I think of her every time I look at it.
And I found this little guy in my backyard a couple evenings ago. Itās a salt marsh moth. Not sure how he got here since Iām probably 10 miles or so in from the coast. But here he is.
I am inundated by tomatoes. I only put in two plants, down from four last year but I still have more tomatoes than I know what to do with.
My dehydrator has been going almost non-stop with all the botanicals Iām harvesting for witchcraft and/or medicinal purposes.
It was a banner year for my milkweed. I can say for sure that weāre adding 4 monarchs to the world and probably more as we had 30 or so caterpillars over the course of the season.
I hope your gardens gave you all as much happiness as mine did this year. I never feel more connected to the Universe than when Iām in the garden (or standing under the moon having a chat with her- or maybe when Iām standing in my garden under the moon having a chat with her). Would love to see your pictures.
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What wonderful flowers you have blooming in your garden.
Those hummingbird moths are amazing - we get them here too, but I havenāt got a photo of one in ages. Here are some photo from around the garden. The first is a lemon grass that @Ostara gave to me in the spring. Itās been growing like crazy
Next is my Belindaās Dream rose in the island bed.
Our little garden fairy
The Turks Cap is a hummingbird and bee favorite. I donāt bother putting out hummingbird feeders anymore. This keeps them happy.
Some day lilies and milkweed
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Your garden is beautiful, @veronica1! I do hope you score on the Blue globe thistle - it looks gorgeous (I love getting blue into my garden!). It reminds me of the buttonbush that I posted a pic of up above - the Monarchs absolutely loved it, though itās a yellowish-white it attracted them. Love the Sea Holly, too!
I havenāt seen a hummingbird moth since we moved from Georgia to Michigan. I donāt know if theyāre around, but Iām ticked by your picture!
I feel for you on the deer munching on your grape vine! I had a young buck go on a small rampage and devour several daylilies (we met later and had a stern discussion). It helps to see the tags on new-ish plants that can tell you whether or not itās deer-resistant (and itās still kind of up to the deer, though it helps). Your grape vine will probably grow back, and you might look for some of the smelly spray that doesnāt hurt the plants but the deer wonāt like it - some kind of faux predator pee-spray. Iām definitely going to look for some next year, since this is 2 years in a row deer have visited my garden and they know the tasty daylilies are there.
Congrats on your Monarch chrysalis! I had two this year that I know of, and only brought one inside to watch over. I felt so lucky to have as many Monarchs visiting the swamp milkweed this year.
Iām with you, Sister!
@Greenbriar - Oh Jayne, your lemongrass looks amazing! So full and lush. Do you think youāll harvest some?
Your roses are gorgeous, and I think youāve introduced me to a new plant - Iāve never heard of Turks Cap. It does look like a pollinator magnet! Iām going to see what zones it grows in.
So happy to see the blooms! Weāve had some very cool, almost crisp, night temps lately and my garden is officially on the wane. Had a hummingbird visit the feeder today, most likely passing through on her way South.
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Your garden is gorgeous! I love your garden fairy and garden sign. I envy your lemon grass. It is something I was hoping to add to my herb garden but found out it doesnāt grow in my zone. Maybe with global warmingā¦ We used to be zone 4 and now weāre zone 5.
I have common milkweed and two colors of butterfly weed. A month or so ago I added my first swamp milkweed which decided to flower now. Iām hoping for big things next year. Yours looks so healthy and happy where it is.
I had not heard of Turks Cap which I love but another plant that wonāt grow in my zone. I should start a list and double check it each time we move up a zone.
I bet the roses smelled amazing. This is my second year with rose bushes. I planted one last year and this year added a red and yellow one, mostly because I loved the name of it (Ketchup and Mustard). I never wanted roses in my garden but last year realized theyād be nice to have for my magic and far less expensive to use them as an ingredient if I grew them for myself. Iām also hoping to harvest some rose hips this year. Last year the deer beat me to them.
Thank you for giving me a tour of your fall garden!
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I envy you being able to grow native milkweed. I have lost count of the number of times I have bought it, planted it and it dies. All I can grow here is the tropical, which grows well, but you have to cut it back vigorously several times a year to prevent the spread of OE spores, which is a real problem down here. https://www.monarchparasites.org/oe
In fact, all the butterfly experts recommend NOT growing tropical milkweed, but since itās all I can grow, I just keep trimming it back to try and control the OE
Andā¦ would you believe those roses donāt have an aroma? Or if they do, I canāt smell it! But I like it because it seems resistant to black spot and other fungus that seemed to invade every other rose I have tried to grow here.
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That is good to know about the tropical milk weed. I had read about OE as well and checked all my cats incessantly to make sure nothing odd was happening to them. I was going to try growing tropical milkweeds here. THis isnāt the zone for them but I was going to try growing them in a pot. Guess Iāll be cancelling that plan. Monarchs are the whole reason I started my whole garden odyssey. I decided I needed to be part of the solution and do whatever I could to get more Monarchs in the world. Followed very shortly by adding bumble bees/polinators to my plan
Well, if the roses canāt smell pretty, at least they look very pretty. Since roses are new to me, Iāve just been crossing my fingers about black spot. Last year I had rose chafers attack my pink rose bush but never saw any this year. Maybe because it was so dry.
SIgh. I guess no matter what you plant, something wants to eat it or some disease wants to infect it.
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I hear you! I garden by the philosophy āif it canāt handle the Texas summer on itās own, it doesnāt belong in my garden.ā Summers can be/are brutal here, so I do as little hard labor in the garden as possible during the summer. Luckily, our Texas natives seem to handle it okay. I just have to avert my eyes from the weeds.
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I feel fortunate that swamp milkweed is a native variety in Michigan. They still get attacked by aphids, but the worst seems to occur long past the bloom time.
From earlier this summer:
Itās all spent now, and Iām letting it alone. Iāll cut it back in late winter/early spring, before new shoots get started.
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What a beautiful photo!
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Thank you! I miss the milkweed and the Monarchs already, lol.
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I have had banana trees for over 30 years. Every winter they die out and they come back in the spring and summer.Yesterday my husband was outside and a bumblebee hit him in the forehead (neither the bumblebee or hubby were injured). The bee was covered in yellow pollen, and it flew up in a banana tree. My tree has bananas!!! This has never happened before.
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Whoa, thatās awesome! And Iām glad there was no bumblebee-related work injuries 
May your banana tree continue to thrive! 
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