Debra, It looks like you too use pine needles as mulch.

Yes Brad, I really like the pine straw as mulch. It's so much lighter to carry around than bark mulch, and it doesn't attract the termites.

I wish pine mulch was available up north. Our friends in S. Carolina use it. From what I can tell it's a much better alternative. Love the photo Debra!

Sherry

I am very blessed--I can get all I need for free. My church has many dozens of pine trees and huge mountains of needles fall in the late fall. It's a bit of work to get it-I bag it and stuff the bags in my car-but worth it.

You are lucky, Brad. My neighbor has pine tree, and I some free there. But not enough for all my gardens.

Sherry - I switched to the pine straw six or seven years ago, and I like the look of it. It also breaks down and keeps the soil slighting acidic, which daylilies love.

Debra

Mums are the sign of fall. Do you add them each year? I haven't added any this year. Pine straw looks great and I've never seen it up north being sold.

Loving the mums!! One of our local big box stores received an over the top shipment of mums a couple of weeks ago that bloom burst in the unexpected heat so they clearanced them at $1.00 a pot for gallon pots and $4.00 a pot for huge three gallon pots. Needless to say, my yard looks like a mum nursery right now!!

Kate

I'm rather in the mum mood myself. I think I'm going to plant a few in a small spot that can turn into a swamp if we have torrential rains in the spring. I'll get the fall burst of color and if they make it to next fall that's fine, if not they are easy enough to remove. I'm still waiting for my pansies. They haven't gotten them in yet. Many growers won't ship to our area until after Oct. 1st. I love my pansies and always buy too many.. Debra: A nice combo on your mums. Great weather right now. We don't even have any winds to speak of. A real blessing in our area........Maryl

Maryl - I love the pansies too. I haven't grown any in the ground for several years, but I think I'll put a few in next week.

Debra

I guess the pine straw must be a southern thing. My sister says it isn't sold in Indiana.

I haven't seen pine straw around here for sale either. I read that it can be highly flammable, so I decided with our drought and the frequent fires that can accompany it, I will stick with plain old Pine Bark mulch. Of course that would burn too I guess, just not as quickly combustible. It sure looks nice.....I've heard about salt march hay out east too. I wonder if anyone on here has access to that?........Maryl.

I hadn't thought about it being flammable. It is dry and likely would burn quickly. But I think any type of mulch could pose that risk.

I haven't seen pine straw mulch for sale in Ky; if I didn't go get it I wouldn't have any. Before I got it I did a fair amount of research on mulches, looking at the good and bad of each. The only one that had fire cautions was plain old straw. But I don't like the look of straw very much so wouldn't have considered it even though it is cheap. It looked like sugar cane mulch was the absolute best, but you need to live near where it is grown.

I love the fall. I am looking forward to a fall colours vacation. I will post pictures after.

Debra: I just got through planting my little grouping of mums. Rather a revelation to me when I pulled this up that I was drawn to the same colors you have in the top picture. If even unconsciously by me, you are still a good enabler. People need to post more of their small scenerios for we suburban gardeners. Those sweeping vistas are awesome but unachievable for some of us. Hope to see more fall/Halloween photos........Maryl

Edward - The photos from your fall trips are gorgeous. Our trees here have just started to change color and won't be at their peak until mid-November.

Debra

By Halloween all the leaves are on the ground. Those pictures were taken in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately I didn't make it as far as the highlands.

Cape Breton is a lovely place!

Beautiful photos Edward! Cape Breton looks very peaceful.

Lori