The Gardening Season is Coming to an End

I have thoroughly enjoyed my deck and gardens this year and I am not ready for it to end! I took a few pics to remember the abundance of rudebeckia and limelight hydrangeas. I hope they all return next year.

West Side of Upper Michigan Color

Yesterday we took a drive to the west side of upper lower Michigan in search of more gorgeous autumn color.  I have read about the "tunnel of trees" highway (M-119, designated a Scenic Heritage Highway), for years and decided it was time to discover it for myself.  This narrow highway follows the shore of Lake Michigan, winding through a forest full of natural beauty between Harbor Springs and Cross Village.  It is about a 2.5 hr. drive from where we live. 

About 30 miles from our destination (over 2 hrs of driving), it started to rain...cloudy, cold, miserable rain.  I am sure the rain contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for this "scenic" highway.  Still I took a blurry picture or two through the car window to share with you.

This highway is so narrow it has no centerline.

Which means you have to go way over into the gravel when another vehicle passes from the opposite direction.   Yes, this is us heading toward the trees so as not to hit the other car....

This is the tiny town of Good Hart, which has become semi-famous because of the tunnel of trees highway.

Had it been a lovely autumn day full of gorgeous color, I probably would have described this as "charming".  As it was I could not wait to get to the end of this "scenic" drive.

This restaurant is Leg's Inn, quite famous due to its location at the end of  the tunnel of trees.  It has quirky décor inside with a lovely area outside where you can enjoy  a delicious meal of Polish cuisine.

My intention was to have lunch here. Unfortunately it did not open for another 35  minutes.  About 20 people were standing outside under umbrellas waiting for it to open.  We were so "unthrilled" with our drive through the tree tunnel that there was no way we were going to stand in the rain to eat lunch.

Perhaps we will go back some other time.

The whole day was not a total flop.  On the way to the tunnel of trees we did see some beautiful autumn color.  This is Stutsman Road. 

Gorgeous!  Luckily we took a wrong road and discovered this! That is Lake Michigan at the end of the road. I was way more impressed with this road than the tunnel of trees!

Along the tunnel of trees highway, I did enjoy this rural setting:

There is something about bales of hay lying in the field that I like. It would have been even better if there had been some fall color.

So has anyone been through the tunnel of trees and had a better experience?  Something that would make me want to make that 5-hr round trip again?  If so, I would love to hear about it!

Weekend Trip toTahquamenon Falls in Paradise, MI

We had the pleasure of viewing this gorgeous autumn color last weekend:

It was a perfect 75 degree fall day in Paradise, Michigan (really...that's the town's name).  I am hoping this Saturday is nice, so we can explore another town.

Rockwall Fall Color from Opposite Direction

I have had a couple of emails asking just where this fall color garden is.  Some of you think it's a new area, but it's just my old rockwall garden that I have spent the past three years trying to change into a shrub/grass/tree garden.  It has been a big pain to remove all the perennials and I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to get rid of all of them. 

These views looking toward the area I showed you in the last post, may help you remember which garden this is:

 

slightly further back giving you a view of the mossy rocks that I love:

 I like the yellow color of the hostas in autumn.  I am leaving hostas here as they will grow in shade.


15 feet further back:

 I think the dead wild fern foliage looks good with the fall colors.

 

the very end of this 100-foot garden looking toward arbor 3:

Both ends of the rockwall garden are flanked with large maple trees.

As you can see, there is not much planted on this end.  I put the Alberta Spruce's in a few years ago. 
This end is shady due to the two large pine trees. I will need to research  shrubs/grasses that will grow in shady areas.  Right now I am still trying to get rid of the gazillion perennials I had here.  It all takes time!  I would welcome ideas for shrubs that will grow in a mostly shady area.

Yesterday I planted the dwarf fountain grass 'hameln' at the opposite end of this garden. 

The few seed heads that are left, make a nice foreground to the burning bush. I can't wait until next year to see how it looks when it's a bit larger.

Burning Bushes and Maple Trees

Warning: Photo heavy!

Fall color pics that I took about 30 minutes ago in my yard.  I don't think any other commentary is needed.

I hope you are all enjoying this colorful season as much as I am!

Burning Bushes and Other Late Fall Color

I just came in from a little walk through the back gardens. 

Who knew that this Johnson's Blue geranium's foliage turned bright red in late autumn?

I must have cut it down early in previous years because I don't remember this lovely fall color. Sometimes it pays to procrastinate on your garden chores! :)

When we had the porch put on this summer, we had to move a huge Burning Bush. We decided to plant it in the rockwall garden.  I was not sure if it would survive.

 It did and it is now bright red.  Below you can see it through the arbor:

 When I stand in my kitchen and look out, I see this:

From the Kitchen angle the cherry tree blocks the bush! Darn. I will have to decide whether to move it again next spring.

On my walk around the garden, I was happy to spot these three pastel-colored Oriental  poppies. This will be their third year and they look a lot bigger than they were last year.


I will be looking forward to a lot of blooms this spring!

On the deck the only planter still going is this little perennial herb pot:

 I might get to use some of that fresh sage in my dressing this Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully all of you out East won't get any snow.

What Not to Wear

This is what NOT to wear

 when climbing these:

Even with good shoes, these steps are difficult to climb. They are very narrow and winding. This the top

You have to go backwards and duck to begin the climb down. You really  need to hold on tight to that handrail!  I removed the shoes on the way down (DH carried them for me).

  We had no plans to check out a new lighthouse when we left Friday night.  If we had, I would have worn sensible shoes.
Saturday night we sat with one of our concert-going friends who told us she had stopped at a place  near Mackinaw City to see a huge rock. We could not hear her very well across the dinner table  over the loud music so we did not get the exact directions.

We have been to this city a zillion times, but have never heard of this huge rock, said to be at least five times larger than Plymouth rock.  As we were driving home and crossing the Big Mac bridge, we, decided spur-of-the-moment, to drive along the shore of Lake Michigan and search for the big rock.
It did not take us long to find this:

We were not sure if the rock was here, but she did mention this lighthouse, so we turned in to explore.

The steps lead to that tower on the top, which had a nice view.

Here it is zoomed in:

While talking to a lady inside the lighthouse, she told us where to find the big rock.  We had to walk about a 1/4 mile down this path:

I love this mossy vignette:

At the end of the path, we found the giant rock. 

It is known as the McGulpin Rock and it was discovered about 400 years ago. Just like  Plymouth Rock, this one was used as an aid to navigation by French explorers and native Americans.  At one time this whole rock was under water.  It is 9 feet tall and weighs 54 tons.

Here is a pic of Plymouth rock to compare.

This whole shoreline is loaded with rocks.

It was a fun excursion on a gorgeous 80-degree autumn day!

Breathtaking Autumn Color

I cannot think of the words to do justice to the spectacular colors we saw this weekend in Chippewa county in Michigan's upper peninsula. I will leave you with few words and these awesome scenes --I think it's the best color I have seen in years.

In the car below the lady is sticking her camera out the window to get pictures.

I had DH stop the car and I walked over to the sand path so I could be closer to the color.

In upper Michigan even the rest stops have lookout towers for scenic views!

Tomorrow I will show you a little side trip we took on the way home from a Fleetwood Mac tribute concert, which I did not enjoy at all. But the great weather, the color tours and the freshly-caught & broiled whitefish we had for dinner more than made up for the music. Overall, we had a great weekend.