Late Fall in the Upper Midwest

Part of living in the upper Midwest is to complain about the weather. We had a horrid cold/wet Spring, a late beginning to a brutally hot Summer, but Fall has been slow, lingering, and beautiful. This week we have had above normal temperatures in Chicagoland.

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Trees and leaves have been slow to turn. Flowers are still blooming.

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I moved the Lemon Grass pots to the front of the garage from the backyard which is now in perpetual shade because  of the angle of the sun. They provide texture and are turning yellow. 

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A fishing creel with artificial greens is in the wreath made from our own grapevine.

 A pumpkin and a few mums add color.

Our flowers in the planter boiled (literally) this Summer.

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Everything is scraggly, but still trying to bloom. My OLD chairs are greatly in need of a REDO. Maybe next year.

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After this picture, I turned the pond off because I can't keep up with the leaves.

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The kids here, are patiently waiting for fish to bite. The real frogs left about three weeks ago when we had a frosty nip.

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The last of the flowering pots. I'm not deadheading blooms anymore, I leave the rest for the birds. I have picked many heads of flowers for seeds, a GREEN thing I do for starting next years plants. T

The Zinnias and Marigolds were crazy gorgeous this year.

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I put pumpkins in the middle of the planters to fill in the empty spots and added a few small mums

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Even the Dahlias are blooming and it is November 3? 

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These Dahlias grew over four feet tall, I'm going to try and bush them more next year. 

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The porch is always covered in leaves. I added a few mums, some outdoor pillows I found in a thrift shop an OLD wire basket, I filled with gourds, leaves, and artificial hydrangeas and berries.

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The real rubber plant went to my son's yesterday, otherwise it has been happy on the porch. The Rosemary is about ready to come in, next cold spell.

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A squirrel has resided in the arrangement, maybe he will keep the real ones from rooting around in there. The basket is sitting on a twig wreath.

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The dried gourds came from our garden. I just set three in the middle of the basket. 

They can be reused each year for a GREEN redo.

I try and decorate with what I have, I confess I have hordes of artificial flowers and grasses.

 So I seldom have to buy a thing. This Fall I did buy one sunflower bush because, I haven't found my totes of Fall items, YET? They might be barricaded in the the storage rooms downstairs, we still aren't totally moved in upstairs, yet. 

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Squirrel was a Christmas ornament last Winter from Walmart that sheltered in the china cabinet.

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This porch faces South so it's quite warm and cozy in the Fall. The REDO Ivy tree topiary has really filled out this year, you can see how to make your own, HERE. 

I'm looking forward to decorating it for the holidays, it's so thick and bushy.

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The sun is so low we have shadows all day long now.

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The throw was a thrift store find. I love the colors and it's very soft. I don't mind it getting wet or dusty out there when it was so inexpensive.

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While taking photos, I couldn't help but pick a few flowers and leaves and stick them in a vase for the kitchen table, and it's a perfect Fall day to enjoy with a cup of Chai. 

Happy Fall, I wonder how long it will last?

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

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Sandi