Oh, fall is here, that is certain. Days are shorter and we had some rain!!! No Dust! the brown soil is having a slight tinge of green, there are sunny days ahead and grasses will sprout.
It is still mild, though frosty nights are just around the corner.
Your garden looks so lush! I have not had rain since April and have had to quit watering about a month ago, the well is low, so fall gardening is not something to get exited about.
Leaves are falling, acorns are on the ground, the deer are here and so are those that eat them - cougars and coyotes. There is a black bear rampaging in the neighborhood.
May all my critters be safe, that %$#* Taffy escaped this evening and hasn't shown up yet, it's an almost full moon, he better come home or find a good hiding place.

The days are getting shorter; some of the beech and birches are turning bright yellow; the oaks are dropping leaves that died during the previous drought. The fall asters have opened wide, to make a glowing swath of purple, an eye-popping contrast to the scarlet salvia which has been indulging in new spears of blossoms now that we've had some rain. The occasional monarch butterfly stops by, pausing in its journey south for a sip of nectar. Last week we had the first nights that cooled to 50, followed by the usual 80-degree days. It really isn't fall yet, but we know the coolth cometh.

The Dogwoods are getting some color in their leaves
and it has cooled down some.
It was only in the 80s yesterday.
Today is cloudy and rain is in the air.

I'm trying to get up the courage to go grocery shopping.
If only grocery stores would start stocking SHOES I could
work up a little enthusiasm.
It's hard to get excited over a bunch of broccoli or
pepper cheese.

Jan, honey, let me help you a little:
Grocery stores don't stock shoes, but they do stock this! Are you getting enough antioxidants? Consider a supplement! It comes in big bars that cost just under $2. One square is very satisfying. I recommend the cranberry, blueberry, and almond one. As an added bonus, the bar is the perfect size to tuck just behind the box of tea in the pantry. (Not that I would know anything about that!)

Better?

LOL, Michelle, I bought that exact candy bar yesterday.
I ate 2 of the squares and gave the rest to Neil.

I loved the photos by the way, the colors are perfect.

What I really love is your enthusiam, I always count on you to pick me up and shake me back to life.

No wonder Steve is so crazy about you.

Ditto to what Jan said.
What a beautiful picture of your back yard Jaz!
Whoa!!!
Nothing irrational about being exuberant about that!
~di

I miss the falls up north. The leaves, especially turning all those wonderful colors. Here, for the most part, they turn brown & all fall off is a rush one day in February.

We got a "cold front" through here last night so today the temps are in the mid-80's instead of yesterday's 95. Fall is very subtle down here. The mornings are delicious, the afternoons less so. But the sky changes from a washed out blue to a deep azure, the fall flowers - Mexican Bush Sage, Confederate Rose, Mexican mint marigold & fall ageratum start to bloom.

My fall tomatoes are starting to get red & we've even got some fall watermelons & cantaloupes (planted at the beginning of July). We won't have a frost here until sometime between Thanksgiving & the first of December.

I'm just looking forward to that really first crisp day when I can wear a sweater all day.

At night, while I call for Georgie-Porgie, the late-nighter of the cat clan, I snitch the ripest of the cherry tomatoes as they hang in the cool dark. We skate/crunch over 'way so many acorns on our way back to the house.
His switching, fluffy white tail warns away goblins as we head for the window glow and warmth.
(It's been a hot, dry summer---this change of seasons is a relief.)

That is the quintessential photograph of autumn, isn't it?

I'm sooooo jealous of your gorgeous viburnum! I've left so many viburnums behind in recent years, the ones i have now are just babes....here's a raspberrial exuberance pic from this morning, just ahead of the 29 degree temp expected tonite. A friend gave me starts this spring, this is the second crop!

Please ignore the weeds, I screwed up my neck early July, my garden isn't pretty.....

{{gwi:196145}}

So Jaz, How cold did it get last night?

{{gwi:196147}}

lynnie b:

Until you just said so, I had no idea that bush was a viburnum! Whatever it is, it sure is rugged! I had to hack about a third of the branches out this year because it was eating the house, and that dog in the pic has developed an odd quirk when she plays with the border collies next door. They herd her, and she runs as fast as she can back and forth in the side yard and when she runs past the bush, she leaps, takes a bite of it, and keeps running. It has been pruned and gnawed on all summer long, yet it still rewarded me with pretty color, so whatever it is, I like it.

My berries don't look nearly as tasty as yours do though!! Looks like you live near quite an expanse of green space too.

Andie:

I hope my pic answered your question. I lost the garden and all my tender plants last night. Not worth covering them since lows are predicted in the upper 20's until Saturday night. Grrr. I brought in my hibiscus, my lemon tree, and my brugmansia. I harvested 35 lbs of produce before the frost hit, invited my neighbors to ransack the gardens too, and still see a bunch of stuff on the now-wilted plants, but I'm finding peace with it. It was earlier than I would have liked, but what's done is done. And I have a new pair of boots to break in...

October 12 and we are in the midst of a lake effect snow storm, 75,000 households in a power outage, tree limbs and power lines down. Heavy wet snow probably at least 3 inches so far...saved some plants and hoping the brugs make it...can't ever remember a snow storm this early...latest one i recall was 16 years ago on May 7th a three footer...think i need to join my DD in St. Pete's or DS in San Diego!

Well, this weather has certainly put a lot of gardens to bed for the year. It's 48 here this AM, which is pretty darn cold for the middle of October down here. I am, however, glad not to be dealing with a fall snowstorm

Yes, i think it's an arrowwood viburnum, which is said to be native, i've never seen one in the wild. I drive by one I planted at thefarm I used to have, it looks huge, along with the other viburnums, boxwoods, sweetgum, tri-color beech, dogwoods, apple....etc, etc,that I left with my ex several years ago...sigh....

Anyway, I have three nice secluded hilly acres now, my nearest neighbors run a gravel pit/ topsoil/ landscaping biz. I named my place "Thistledew", and have broken about a half-acre of sod for veggies and fruits, though it's pretty weedy right now! I like this view better, my property ends at the fence.

{{gwi:196149}}