The Sun Sinks South.

10-20-10 SHORT HILLS: The weather has been seasonal. We got another 0.1 inches of rain.

We are one month past the Equinox, when the sun was on the Equator, and the sun is now half way down to its southernmost declination. On this date in August, the sun was at the corresponding declination in the northern hemisphere. The sun has moved 23° of latitude southward in 60 days.

The foliage color, a response to the sun’s movement, is good here in NJ and, again, changing earlier than usual, a response to some unknown effect of the weather this growing season.

Sweet Gum Tree.

Sugar Maple.

Pumpkins Float Down Connecticut River

10-16-70 SHORT HILLS: We had another storm here Thursday night which delivered another 0.65 inches of rain. Friday and today have been very windy, shaking all the loose leaves out of all the trees.

A few days ago, before the last rain, I was out in the yard with the dogs, and we were caught in a leaf storm. A wind gust shook ash trees and, for a few minutes, it rained yellow leaves, all back-lit by the sun. Of course, I didn’t have the camera with me, and it was over by the time I got it.

The color here is already pretty good. Here’s an ash from a few days ago.



That storm at the beginning of the month caused a lot of flooding in the Connecticut River Valley in VT and NH. Pumpkin farms on the banks of the river to north of us had hundreds of acres of pumpkins harvested from the vines, but not yet gathered. They estimated a 100,000 pumpkins set sail down river. A disaster for the farm families, but dramatic videos.

Vermont Pix.

10-13-10 SHORT HILLS: We came back to NJ yesterday. The color was actually better in southern VT, MA and CN than what we had further north. Back in NJ we had had 1.2 inches of rain, so we're catching up. Here are some of the pix from last week in Vermont:


Norwich-tree tops.

Thetford-Brady the horse takes five.

Thetford-Red Maple again.

Woodstock-Big barn, little hill.

Pomfret-all hills.

Pomfret-Galaxy Rd.

Pomfret-pasture.

Actually, we left by car.

Wright's Mountain.

10-11-10 VERMONT: Yesterday I hiked with Roger and Ann, we climbed Wright’s Mt. in Bradford, VT. It’s not real high, but the trails are winding and numerous. The trail map looks like a snarl of yarn. The mountain bedrock is schist. It has some nice views from the vantage points and an interesting pile of huge boulders called the Devil’s Den. I think it is a glacier created pile under south-facing cliffs. It was an all afternoon event and had my hips griping by the end.

Last night Judy threw another one of her soirees. Roger, Ann, Adena, Craig, Ken and Jane were our guests. We settled most of the world’s problems, and everyone stayed fairly late, considering that it was a school night.

Today I was back in the yard. With Judy’s help, all the outdoor furniture was stored and the boat is in the barn. I sprayed burdock, thistle and nettle in the pasture around the barns with RoundUp. I cleared another bed, hauled away the cuttings, enlarged another bed by moving the rock border outwards and weeded a different bed. There’s lots more to do, but I’m caught up for now and waiting for a hard frost before doing the rest.

New blooms: witchhazel [forgot to mention last week].


View from Wright's Mt. looking west.

More Foliage.

10-9-10 VERMONT: Yesterday and today were both lovely, although there was a shower yesterday at dusk. I pulled out all the flower bed borders yesterday and labeled them all and put them in the barn. Then I started cutting down stalks of phlox, peony, beebalm, hollyhock, bleeding heart, delphinium, day lily, filipendula and others that are done for the season. Other flowers like hosta, sedum, alkanet, boltonia, rogersia, turtle head, aster are still green and some still blooming. There are more beds to do, but I’m caught up for the moment. There is a frost predicted for tonight, so I may have more to do tomorrow.

Today we did errands and drove to Woodstock, VT on the back roads which are usually gorgeous in foliage season. And so they were today, but the color was a bit more muted and muddy then in other years. The leaf season is early this year, and trees in parts of Pomfret and Sharon are mostly bare. Those heavy rain and wind storms probably did it. Nevertheless, I did get some nice pix to post, but I’ll do it next week with the faster connections in NJ.

Eagle-eyed Judy saw a bear in Norwich, not far from the town center and later flushed a grouse in our pasture, neither of which I got to see. We did see a mama turkey with two chicks this afternoon.


Mt. Lafayette in the center, in the White Mountains. That's about 40 miles away to the NE.

After heavy rain, interesting mushrooms pop up.

Foliage Season.

10-7-10 VERMONT: We came up yesterday in a soaker from Connecticut to Vermont that continued over night and stopped about noon today. There was already plenty of precip here. I had put the rain gauge away to avoid an early frost cracking it, but a bucket I had left out was almost full. According to NOAA we had almost seven inches of rain here in the past two weeks.The pond was full and draining, the little pond which had been dry is almost full, and the usual low spots are soggy.

The leaves are about at peak for foliage color. As usual some trees are bare, some in full color and some still green depending on species, exposure, elevation and latitude. Vermonters say that the best color follows warm days, cool nights, but without hard frosts. That’s what we have had, but it’s not as glorious as in other years. Yesterday in the rain and mist the colors were muted, but today after the sun came out, the colors were bright—no surprise, of course.

I started fall wrap-up, clean-up, put-away and take-down. I pulled all the plant supports-stakes, hoops, ties, poles, the electric fence around the veggies, the tomato cages, the hummingbird feeder, beetle traps, hoses. Tomorrow I’ll get the flower bed border guards.

New Blooms: cimicfuga, late monkshood.


Barn bracketed by maples.

Red Maple. Very red maple today.

From Sweaty to Sweatery.

10-4-10 SHORT HILLS: We ended up with 4.2 inches of rain from the storm and got another 0.05 inches last night. In about a week we have had almost 5 inches. I guess that takes care of the drought. All the transplants look fine, how could they not with all the rain?

I bought two hydrangeas on Saturday at The Farm and planted them yesterday in the spots vacated by the lilacs. It’s always a good time to buy garden plants, the nurseries are discounting to clear stock for the spring. Plantings done now have four to eight weeks to settle in before real cold hits with little chance of getting too hot or too dry.

The warm air brought by the tropical storm vanished with the sunshine and it’s been sweater weather since. Vermont later this week.