Fall Color Begins to Show

It's beginning to look a lot like fall around here, although the grass is still green, and so is the famous Arlmont backyard maple. All the rain we have had might be responsible. September and October have both been cooler than normal, although we have had about 4 "normal" days and three of those included sunshine. Our burning bushes by the driveway are redder than they ever have been before. They may like it better with the fence down.

On July 4, we planted some Zinnia seeds. Our friend Freda said to plant them that late in order to avoid mildew on the leaves. Well, one batch had mildew any way, but these turned out well. They are right next to the burning bushes, though, making a bit of a clash. In this part of the garden we also had a volunteer cantaloupe vine...the result of using home grown compost for mulch. The cold night last week zapped all the leaves and when Norm was raking yesterday, he found a small, perfect cantaloupe, about the size of a baseball, still green. You never know what is going to volunteer in the yard. On Wednesday, Norm picked a good cup full of raspberries, almost the last on the vines for this year. Raspberries in October. We are blessed! Now, we have to decide what to do about all of the green tomatoes that are still out there. No frost is due for at least a week so we hope they will mature some.

Who knew that a hosta could dress itself so royally for fall? Soon these golden leaves will fade and we can put mulch in the beds and plant some bulbs, but for now they are cool to look at.

This week has been less hectic than last, and for that we are thankful. I've been doing some knitting and today started re-organizing my sewing room. Norm has been mowing, raking, and turning the compost pile in anticipation of our coming winter. The 4 caladiums are back on the basement windowsills to hibernate until spring. I'm still debating how many geraniums to bring in, how many cuttings to take, and whether when the night comes that a freeze in unavoidable, which plants to leave. Usually I give in and bring all of them in, and we exist in a small jungle for the duration. I have this weird thing about plants: the other day I told my Tai Chi instructor that I believe plants have souls, and it's one thing for the native plants to go through their natural cycle of bloom, seed, die, and sprout again, but there's some responsibility on our part for these tender tropicals that don't get to reproduce as nature intended in this climate. Just as I wouldn't leave a dog outside on a freezing night, neither do I want to abandon a lovely plant to such a fate. I think this means that I'm eccentric.

Today we are supposed to get a soaking rain again, just what we needed....slosh, slosh. Norm gets a crown on Friday to complete the root canal he had last week. If the weather improves and we feel like it, we hope to take a day trip on Saturday to enjoy the foliage and perhaps see some nifty quilts.