Another cross-quarter day, better known as Halloween. I read somewhere that this is the third harvest, the others coming at Lammas (early August) and the equinox. Maybe in Europe? I don’t seem to have much to harvest this year. In fact it is planting season for Swiss chard, the one vegetable I’ve succeeded in growing here. But I do have flowers:
The chamisa and the butterfly bush are flaunting their yellow and red, and yes, fighting for space. In the side yard the volunteer autumn sage is blooming again:
Fortunately, it doesn’t mind in the least that I never got around to deadheading the last set of blooms. As the weather cools I hope to give the garden more attention.
In the summer I was fighting weeds with early morning forays with vinegar and salt. It seems to work. My front walk is quite well behaved. Time to spend more energy on the other sides of the house. Who was it who commented that something is always happening in a garden?
Purple mat is a small flower which, this year, is here, there and everywhere in my yard, after some years of scarcity.
The iris came with the house. That is, a few flat leaves showed up in unexpected places. I’ve transplanted and fed them. They seem to like being against the wall. They take much more work than native flowers, and don’t last as long, but they were an accidental gift, so I keep caring for them.
No, these are not the same poppies I’ve shown before. It’s a good year for them, they keep appearing in new spots.
I tried to plant something else for the winter in this pot. It didn’t make it. These violas don’t care whether it is winter or spring.
Thanks to son Jack for getting them properly staked among the rocks. It was quite a job to get them in, and today, on the twelfth and last day of Christmas, it was another job to get them out.
There were few tourists and a long row of shops with tables and chairs offering a good view.
freethoughtandmetaphor 