Frost Warnings

Since the weatherman was calling for frost, I took some time to wander around the gardens and enjoy some things before they finished up for the season. Some were no big surprise-the end of season plants that always put on their best show now. Like red pineapple sage, which did not start blooming for me till October, making it quite a short growing season this year. And the fuzzy purple spikes on Mexican bush sage-beautiful in both color and texture. And the yellows and oranges of both marigolds and calendula, which always seem more appealing to me in the fall. But there were some surprises.

We have some pink David Austin roses and one, not a particularly large bush was covered with flowers this fall-I stopped counting at two dozen. Nearby were my rose bon-bon cosmos. I had cut them back sometime in the summer. So the plants were shorter but very full, and just loaded with blossoms. They’re a mixture of single and double pink flowers-very showy. All the nicotiana or flowering tobacco put on a good fall show. And the tall, upright verbena was gorgeous. It's upright, rather than trailing, but has the same flat-headed flowers with multiple florets. It was sparse during the extreme heat of July, but lovely through September and October. Although not winter hardy, it reseeds reliably every year. And of course, the fuzzy red chenille-like stems of love-lies-bleeding ~ it takes awhile for them to size up, but they are a real show»stopper when they do.

l made a mad rush around to cut the last of some herbs for drying and also some annual flowers to dry and bunch. I had an excellent fall rebloom on my lavender this year-almost as good as the spring bloom, l thought. Also picked globe amaranth, eucalyptus, cockscomb and a few others.

Lucy got to chase a squirrel the other day. They really fascinate her. lt didn't take her long to figure out there's no sense in chasing birds, since they just fly away. But squirrels run and then climb trees! This one did just that, but once he was up that tree, he didn't scamper to the top and jump from tree to tree, he just sat there. If she could have figured out a way to climb that tree, she would have. He ascended slowly, but she could still see him and she wasn't ready to give up. l finally had to put her on the leash and drag her away. The next day she went out looked up and smelled and smelled. -