A Mild Fall

It's almost Halloween and we have not had a frost. And none is forecast for the next 10 days.

Most years autumn comes on hard here, with a deep nighttime freeze well before this time, sometimes in late September. By late October the garden usually looks zapped, the pots are already stored in the garage and I am just waiting for all the cottonwood leaves to finally come down.

This year even annual plants like zinnias are still going strong in October.

In fact they look fresher than they did all summer, very happy in the mild fall.

Blue lobelia, another annual, is unfazed. It's starting to get open and a bit leggy, but boy the blue is still intense.

Of course asters are in bloom now, and Raydon's Favorite aromatic aster, tucked in a corner by the fence, looks fine. I grew this in Connecticut and it was a cool steely blue in flower. Here it is lavender purple. Different soil.

My new orange Playboy rose, planted just this summer, has settled in nicely and in this mild late October he is teasingly putting out more blooms. Shameless.

I do love him, though. How can you resist these charms?

Really cold weather is still a way off and my compulsions to tidy things up, cut back perennials and store the pots is driving me crazy. But this unusual long slide into fall is a rare gift.