Nice To Be Home

After being away for nine days it was nice to come home to the fall weather! Cool and damp is much more inspiring for putting out the pumpkins and doing the fall planting than the warm weather we were experiencing when we left. A quick walk around the garden in the mist this morning made me happy I have so many different kinds of chrysanthemums in the garden. Most of them are just left over from indoor floral displays using potted plants in years past that were planted after the flowers were spent with low expectations. Although some of them bloom earlier in the year, most of them are just coming into their own while the rest of the garden flowers take a break. More than enough for cut arrangements to enjoy this time of year!

Later

Taking off for a few days. Ready to jump into fall planting when I return!

Colors, Shades and Hues

If you are only relying on flowers for the main source of color in your garden, you are missing out on an important element in nature that comes from foliage. Green is the most prominent color in most gardens (the exception would be dry or desert gardens that rely on hardscape color as a background) and yet so many gardeners seem to forget that it is actually on the color wheel! There are at least a dozen different shades of green and as many textures in this corner of the Moonlight Garden in SJC at this time of year. Since I have been a bit negligent in getting in my fall annuals that I use to add a pop to areas like this I am grateful that it remains interesting as it is on a regular basis.

A Mystery Dalhia

I am still getting some new blooms from the dahlias I planted in the spring, but I'll be darned if I can figure out which one this is from my invoices and notes. It is in a prime viewing location in the back yard in SJC, where I can enjoy it while sitting in my rocking chair in the evening, so even if I don't know what to call it, I can still admire it on a daily basis!

Right On Time

My mums seem to bloom any time they feel like it, although we tend to think of them as one of the dependable fall flowers. Finally I am getting blooms on these perennials at the time I expect and look forward to them, October! There are a number of them scattered throughout the gardens and they all have buds waiting to open. Now let's hope they can hang on for at least seven weeks so they will adorn the gardens at Thanksgiving! Am I wanting too much?

A Little Summer

Since I whined about the weather all summer, I feel I owe it to Mother Nature to praise this lovely fall weather we have been having. It was a bit hot for a day or two, but now it is just balmy! The skies have been filled with glorious cloud formations and there was event a bit of a sprinkle from a random cloud yesterday. The leaves on the native sycamores are starting to turn brown and fall off and the hydrangea flowers are drying out on the bush, but it could be a late summer for those of us that are willing to suspend belief just a little!

Hot

I've been waiting patiently for the "autumn-urge-to-garden" feelings to overcome me after a too brief summer. I used to burn-out in the summer and worry that I would never have those feelings of the need to plant, prune and plan for gardens to come, would return, but they always did. Last week I was thinking about pumpkins and mums and I had on my to-do list for this week, a trip or two to the nursery. Well, it was 107 degrees here yesterday. Record breaking heat, no doubt. Nothing like heat stroke to dash those ambitions of grandeur in the garden! At least I didn't go out and buy all those fall annuals that would be shriveling in this heat. I can only imagine the panic at the nurseries that are packed with pansies this time of year. At least pumpkins don't wilt!

Big

This ligularia is so happy in this dappled shade that they have grown so large that they are crowding out the other plants that share this area. Time to rescue the others and relocate them because I don't want to interfere with a happy plant!

Waiting for the Colors

I try to plant a lot of plants that turn colors in the fall in my gardens. I like the signal from nature that it is time to slow down and get ready for the winter months. Our warm temperatures that are typical for this time of year have yet to produce too many turning leaves, but bougainvillea is putting on a colorful display throughout Southern California this month. This can be a too common plant in some people's opinion because it is so content that it grows to an enormous size and is almost impossible to get rid if you try . It also has some nasty thorns! Oddly enough it can be difficult to get started due to it's overly sensitive root system that is quite delicate and falls apart when transplanting. It is not uncommon to have a young bougainvillea sulk for a couple years before taking off and becoming a beautiful specimen, which is one of the few extremely colorful, yet very drought tolerant plants available. I want more!

Lions Spitting Water

My DH and I have a running joke about "lions spitting water". When we were first married and house hunting it seemed like we had very different tastes when it came to real estate. I liked quaint, funky places and he liked stately, dignified homes. To clarify my point one frustrating day I told him that I would never live in a house with lions spitting water. What is the first thing you see when you pull in the driveway of our SJC home? Well it used to be a lion spitting water. Now it is a lion overlooking a funky basin of succulents spilling into a basin of "splashing" liriope. A fitting compromise I would say!