Midwest Garden falling into Fall?

Normally, my blog is full of gorgeous summer photos of a garden to be proud of, but with the cold/late spring and the drowning two months of record rains, 

Chicagoland weather has been inhospitable to gardening.

My flowers are sad---everywhere, too much greenery to sustain through the season. I leave the blossoms on these to dry for the birds to feed.

Foliage was abundant, while roots were shallow and nonexistent on some of the tallest plants. A few days without water and tomatoes plants simply wilted instantly and refused to revive. Our tomatoes have been small, falling off the vines and way below normal production.

My Zinnias are 5 feet tall, but the flowers are very small and tight. 

No bouquets in the house this year each week. Never enough flowers to snitch from the yard.

I spent most of the summer dumping out saucers under plants and drilling holes in others for more drainage.

The Marigold on the right is growing through a crack in the sidewalk, just to show you what the dirt underneath is holding for water. I have watered it three times all summer.

But Fall is creeping up on us, and the sedum is small---but just opening.

These bees were absolutely burying themselves in the blossoms.

They never even blinked at me sticking a camera near them.

My back stairs---peeling from all the rain and we redid them last year, the green tinge is mold which covers everything. We bleached the stairs because they were scary slippery.

The birdhouse pole rotted, this year. Crazy!

Hollyhocks seed pods are still tightly wrapped. When they open, I will spread them out along the fence.

Strangely we have a few huge pumpkins. This one is at least 15" long.

Pie pumpkins are nowhere near ripening though.

Another large pumpkin on our antique cultivator. The leaves are starting to dry up, or mildew up--not sure which.

We have a few spaghetti squash, still hanging. Soon to be picked. They are very hard, not really ripe yet.

And Butternut squash, my personal favorite.

Another spaghetti squash, this one hides in the bean trellis, beans, we have finally had two pickings---so late.

Here's my dill---but there are no cucumbers to use it with. We had fresh cukes a couple at a time, not enough for making pickles.

Squash leaves looked like ancient tattered petticoats, and yet they try to blossom? 

Plants are confused, so am I.

And it's dropping into the low 50's tonight. Trees are thinking about turning, our Maple in front---with its edges starting to lemon out before either drying up or maybe turning salmon orange. 

Crossing my fingers. 

How is your Fall yard doing?

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, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

 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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