Happy Halloween!

The rain has finally stopped and the weather is more seasonal rather than so cold and damp, so we may have lots of little goblins knocking on the door tonight. We will also have a full moon tonight. Perfect timing. I wish I had a scary movie to watch, but the best I can do is "The Great Pumpkin".

There was a brief reprieve from the rain on Wednesday, so I took the opportunity to get the garlic planted. Almost 70 cloves of garlic! I had three heads of Ajo Rojo, which had about 17 cloves each, then I had three head of Old German which had about 6-8 cloves each. We will have plenty of garlic next year, since almost one-quarter of one of my beds is now full of garlic. At least I don't have to worry about keeping it moist, since it has rained for almost an entire month.

The swiss chard is doing well. I'm not sure when it will be ready. We had a frost a couple of weeks ago, so most of the garden is finished now. By Christmas, school will be over for the semester and I will need something to do for a couple of weeks, so it will be time to get serious about planning next years garden. I love looking at seed catalogs in the winter, when the world is cold and dark and I need to be reminded that there will be new life in the spring. It's something to look forward to.

The summer garden is over, but there is still plenty of life in the garden. The roses are happily blooming now that the dreaded Japanese beetles are long gone. The crepe myrtles are still blooming, and the parsley is a beautiful, huge green mound, ready to eat.



There was a heavy mist going on when I took these pictures yesterday. It felt wonderful. Although officially it is still a few days away, the scent of autumn is already in the air. I love it! I'm ready for pumpkins and scarecrows and leaves blowing in the wind. I will miss the flowers, though, and especially the fresh tomatoes.



These are the Texas Bluebonnets that I planted in June. I became fascinated by the raindrops puddled in the center of the leaves. They did not bloom this year; hopefully they will come back next year.



It misted rain most of the day yesterday, except for when it flat out poured down (known around here as a "toad-strangler"). It was a nice day to stay in with a cup of hot tea and a good mystery.



Most of the vegetable garden has been put to bed for the winter. We pulled up all the tomato plants today, along with the two remaining squash plants. We were still getting a few squash every couple of days, but they were tough and a little bitter. It was time for them to go. We still have a couple of red long bean plants and I planted a patch of Swiss Chard a couple of weeks ago which has started sprouting.

We pulled up one patch of zinnias, but there are many more to go. They looked good for a long time, but that time is over, I'm afraid. I need to order garlic this week. I usually plant it around Halloween. I already have a couple of packs of hyacinths and grape hyacinths that I will plant at the same time. I would still like to get a couple of rose plants in the ground before winter. Since school has started, it has been hard to find time for the garden. Winter holiday is twelve weeks away, and believe me, I am counting down every single day! It will be time for a long nap and a chance to plan my spring garden. That's what cold winter days are for, right?

Butchart Gardens

We returned late last night from a whirlwind vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia. A must-see on our short trip was Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. The garden was born over 100 years ago in an old lime-stone quarry. Jennie Butchart wanted to make something wonderful out of her husbands spent quarry, and her dream was so successful that by the 1920's, Butchart Gardens was already a major tourist attraction. It still is; it was sometimes quite difficult to see the flowers through all the people.
Words can't possibly do justice to the garden, so I'll just quit talking and let the garden speak for itself.