weathering the change

since fall has finally arrived, things are looking a little different in the garden.  seeds are ready for harvest and plants are shutting down for the coming of winter.  the mums are in full bloom and the trees are shedding their leaves.  soon, it will be time to rake them all up and place them in the bin for next years compost piles.  even so, there is still plenty of things to look at and enjoy.

in the herb garden, the salvia is still blooming, not bad for a cheap 6pack of annuals!

the thai basil and thyme are still going strong as well

when the girls went to italy with linda last year, they brought back tomato seeds.

we were late in planting them and they did not do well in a bucket.  planting them in the garden among the other plants has given them the chance to take off.  we hope to keep them going long enough to try the tomatoes that the plant has set.

this has been a good year for our little miniature roses

when the cardoon was done blooming, i cut it back to the ground.  it is coming back nicely along with the catnip that we thought was long dead.  the two plants look nice with the grosso lavender.

the pineapple sage and the nasturtiums are doing a wonderful job of covering up the 

air conditioner.  next year i will plant more nasturtiums to do it again.

the asparagus plants had been allowed to grow up into large ferns and when they began to

yellow, we cut them back.  much to our surprise, they immediately began to send up shoots.

for the first time in 4 years, we will actually be able to harvest them and cook them for dinner!

up until this week, we have had such warm days and nights that i never thought to bring in

my christmas cactus.  it wasn't doing well, it lost several large branches and others look awful.

but the lousy condition of some of the plant has not stopped it from setting flower buds.

looks like i will have a halloween cactus this year!