Early November in Americus

Is the weather really unusual everywhere this year? Today, it is almost 80 degrees, so, I took a walk through the garden to see what is new. A lone daylily shines amongst the fallen leaves.
A few echinacea continue to bloom.

The Celeste fig tree still has figs. Maybe with the cooler weather the "figeater" beetles will not devour them before we can.

The brown turkey fig tree has a few barely ripe figs along with lots of immature ones.

Although the leaves of the Mickey Mouse plant are browning, the flowers are still abundant. Can you see the "face" in the flower in the center of the photo (it's facing towards the left).

If you click on the photos, you can get the true view. This mushroom is really interesting, isn't it?

A view from inside one of the oak trees.

The leaves of the oakleaf hydrangea are turning red around the edges.

Prompted by the cooler temperatures, the paperwhites are beginning to appear.

The leaves of the red dragon Japanese maple are so frilly and delicate.

The knockout roses continue to bloom.

We have several varieties of ruby lorapetalum in the garden. This one is really beautiful right now with the leaves showing green and ruby along with the almost fuschia blossoms.

That's the garden tour for today. Speaking of tours, Kim and I took a tour of the local coffee roaster today. Cafe Campesino specializes in fresh roasted, fair trade, organic coffee. We were treated to a "cupping" and enjoyed sampling quite a variety of coffees. If you visit us in person, we recommend that you take the tour. It was very interesting.

Thanks for visiting the Americus Garden Inn. Come back soon.

A Great Day to be Innkeepers

People ask us all the time if we always wanted to be innkeepers. The truth is, we have no idea how we decided to embark on this particular journey. What makes each day special is knowing that we make each day a great day for someone else.Over the past couple of days, we had really wonderful guests. It seemed like we had been friends forever and this morning we spent 3 hours talking. It was hard to see them go. Did I mention that they are illusionists? You can check out their website at www.joshknotts.com Josh and Lea do extreme illusions and stopped in Americus for a little R&R between shows at state fairs. They are headed to Alabama for the National Peanut Festival in Dothan. If you are headed that way, make sure to catch their show.

We had a little rain and the temperature has dropped just a little. I had a phone conversation with a very nice lady asking me about the garden. I decided to take a few more photos displaying the season. Kim has not trimmed the vitex, yet. They are like crape myrtles in that they will bloom again if the seeds are trimmed.

The hollies by the pond are just full of berries.

Today, the confederate rose is full of flowers. Were you aware that the confederate rose is a hibiscus?

The knock-out roses are gorgeous right now.

One of the three varieties of lantana in the garden.

As you can see, the fig tree is still producing figs, but, we have not had any remain on the tree long enough for us to eat one.

In this close up of the Chinese flame tree, the "flame" looks like a huge pompom.

The insects totally devoured our canna tropicana plants this summer. They are finally recovering.

This is a view looking up into one of the pecan trees. The green pods are the immature pecans.

The sasanqua in front of the house just started blooming.

A sngle gardenia is blooming at the porch entrance.

Another lantana variety with berries.

Looking towards the pond from the porch, the knock-out roses are beautiful.

Every season brings its special magic to the garden. As the weather gets cooler, the camellias and the sasanquas will be joined by the paperwhites. If you didn't know, the American Camellia Society is located about 45 minutes from Americus at Massee Lane Gardens in Fort Valley. It's a great place to visit when the camellias are blooming.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day.

Is it really Fall in Americus?

When you take a walk outside, you can see signs of autumn all around. The leaves of the tulip poplar are turning yellow.Although the pecans are not quite ready, some have started falling from the trees.
The parrotia tree has started to turn orange, but, only on the side that faces west.

Some of the nandina bushes are full of red berries.

Almost everyone asks us about this plant. It is a "false cypress".

Although the crepe myrtle trees still have flowers, the leaves have begun to change.

One of my favorite flowers of the season, the Confederate rose.

You might think that fall would bring cooler weather. Well, I just looked at the thermometer on the porch. In the shade, it is 88 degrees! No wonder the butterflies are still around.

Thank you for allowing me to share my day with you. Hope you are having a Happy Day.

My favorite muffins - Gluten Free Cheese Muffins

When I first discovered that I was gluten and soy intolerant, I had trouble finding foods that agreed with me. For a while, I lived on corn chips. In the beginning of my "journey", I could not tolerate dairy products, eggs or anything with fiber. But, once I eliminated soy and gluten from my diet, I found that some dairy was tolerable. That is when I found this recipe. I love these muffins. Before I started making these, I felt deprived. I bake delicious goodies every day for our B&B guests and I could not even try a bite. It was very hard for me to stay positive. These muffins saved the day. Hope you like them, too.

I start with Bob's Red Mill Organic rice flour. The brown rice flour does not agree with me, so I use white.
Mix in some baking powder, salt and sugar. The original recipe called for cayenne pepper. I use chipotle chili pepper.
In another bowl, place one egg and 1 cup of milk.
Whisk those together.
You can use any cheese, but, I prefer shredded sharp cheddar (not the finely shredded).
Place the cheese in the bowl with the dry ingredients
and mix thoroughly.
Time to grease the pans. I like to make 6 jumbo muffins. You can make 12 small ones, if you prefer. I'm sure you could use PAM or shortening instead of butter, but, I use butter.
Time to combine the wet ingredients with the dry.
Stir until combined.
Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden.
Let them cool a few minutes before removing from the pan.
If you like cheese biscuits, you will love these muffins. I like to reheat them in the oven so the outside gets nice and crusty and the inside is soft and cheesy. YUMMY!

GLUTEN FREE CHEESE MUFFIN RECIPE

1 1/2 cups rice flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp chipotle chili pepper (if you use cayenne instead, use much less!)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 egg

1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine egg and milk in small bowl. Whisk well.
4. Grease a 6 cup jumbo muffin pan or 12 cup regular muffin pan.
5. Add cheese to dry ingredients mixing well.
6. Add egg/milk mixture to cheese/flour and mix well.
7. Spoon evenly into prepared muffin pan.
8. Bake 15 minutes for jumbo, 12 minutes for regular or until golden brown.
9. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack.
10. Enjoy!

Thank you for joining me in the kitchen at the Americus Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast. This recipe can be varied by adding bacon, ham or vegetables, Italian spices, change the cheese, etc. Let me know how yours turn out!

Fall Photos of our Americus Georgia Garden

Take a stroll with me through the garden at the Americus Garden Inn as we truly begin to see the transition of summer to fall. Remember to click on the photos for a larger image.

The cannas are still in bloom. There is actually fruit on the pineapple guava bushes. Kim tasted one and said it was reminiscent of a kiwi with hints of citrus.
Around the yard, there is the wonderful floral fragrance of tea olive.

The dogwood leaves are showing color.

Red foliage is apparent on the blueberry bushes.

The Chinese flame tree has what looks like two red pom-poms in this view of the path towards the gazebo.

A closeup of the foliage.

A look at the oakleaf hydrangea.

The Indian Hawthorn is covered with berries.

The lantana is thriving in this cooler weather,
So is the purple queen,
And the knockout roses.
A perfect bud for you, my friends!
Thanks for taking some time with me today. There are photo ops all over the garden so you can expect more photos from me soon. Hope you are enjoying a glorious day.