Early days of autumn...

The Pampas Grass blows regally in the breeze

Asparagus seed balls turn a beautiful shade of red...

And other things start showing themselves in the asparagus bed...

...like thistles - Yikes, these got big!

And I have no idea what these blue berries are.  Any ideas?

These sedum (planted on the east side of the house) started out so tiny in the spring, but have overgrown the area they began in:

Next spring I think I will divide these and plant some on the south side of the house and see if the color changes with full sun, and maybe dryer conditions.  We've never had Sedum (also called Stonecrop) before.  Given they got no attention all summer, I'm calling this a completely effortless plant.

I think I took this picture of the garden a week ago:

The dying tomato and squash plants have all been removed, and all that is standing today are yellow brittle cucumber plants (on the far right, front), the Kentucky Wonder pole beans in the back center, and a Marconi Giant Pepper plant (front and center).

At this point, I'm hoping the remaining Marconi Peppers will at least begin to turn red so I can bring them inside to finish ripening before we get some cold weather this weekend.  Every other day I'm able to harvest enough green beans for a meal (though I clean, cut and freeze them, usually).  I'm ready to just let the remaining seed pods dry out and then see if they are harvestable for planting next spring.

Editing this post just to be clear that I am not doing the work of removing dead plants.  I'm not doing anything I can't do one-handed.  While I give some direction on what is finished up and can be pulled, Hub is doing the actual work of cleaning up the garden.  

 

While autumn is my most favorite time of the year, and I always look forward to putting growing things to rest outside (even in our smaller in-town yard I looked forward to cleaning out the flower beds and pots, and cutting things down), I have to admit having only one reasonable-working hand puts a damper on my enthusiasm for the season this year.  I'm not complain' (much), just explainin'.

I hope you're enjoying your autumn wherever you are!  Or your spring if you're in the southern hemisphere!  The two most wonderful times of the year...  😊