Last week we visited our local waste processing area, where free compost/mulch is available to all those who shovel their own.  We filled a few recycling bins and took them home.

Today I cleaned up some Hostas in an ugly hidden area of the yard.  They started in the spring from some tiny divisions, and do not get any rain as they are under a bay window, but I hope they will spread into a nice curvy garden patch in this shady area.  I top dressed with some compost.  The leaves are just starting to fade.

We used some compost to top these shrubs planted above a sharp drop – we will add more as we want to create a tiny berm of flowering shrubs, but raise the edge (before it drops off the little cliff.  These shrubs were on sale and labelled as Korean Lilacs – but we will see in the spring.

The columnar basil looks a little silly in the herb garden as it is so upright.  This was the only basil on sale in the spring as there had been some sort of frost affecting all of the regular basil at the local garden centres, and they were all brown.  I will have to make pesto this week.

The rest of the herb garden needs tidying as I thought I had Rosemary, and I couldn’t find it under the parsley, chives and feverfew.

Four spaghetti squash are ready to eat.

This one will be washed, cut in half, the seeds scooped out and then baked in the oven in water for 45 minutes.

I really want to plant some lilacs – lots – but there were none left at any of the garden centres.  I took some cuttings of branches at my mother’s house, cut the branches to just below a branch joint – dipped them in some rooting hormone, and planted them all in some fertilized earth mix.  They may or may not grow this late in the season, but it’s worth a try – with no cost and not much effort.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.