The clean-up begins

After a week of rain, it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, partly sunny and almost 60. Perfect for getting started on the fall clean-up, and I worked until the compost bin was full. That was enough! The akebia vine had grown so big and heavy it knocked a trellis to the ground, and it took an hour of snipping to remove the death grip. I see on invasive.org that akebia is a threat to natural forests. What a surprise-- another dangerous mongrel I cultivate in my flower garden (sigh.)

On the other hand, here's a picture of the lovely hops vine I wrote about on August 4. The little pods look like miniature pine cones, and I think they smell like beer perfume, if you can imagine that. When I got tired of working, I took my camera out and looked for interesting things to photograph like the rudbeckia black seed heads. Soon the garden will be a cold, soggy mess.

We're looking forward to seeing the honeymooners and Nova and Roger next week in Seattle when they return from the pacific coast.