A Touch of Fall Color

We do not get the great flaming trees of farther north. Our big trees are mostly green, and then turn yellowish or just go to brown. Leaves are coming down like rain at the slightest breeze.

 Our brightest fall color comes from Sumac. Little trees come up along fence rows and hedges.
This one came up at the end of a pile of pole cuts that I use to form little fences and such in the garden.

 My intent was to go to the field and make pics before peanuts were gone. I was distracted by fall  color on the way. Peanuts are plowed up, on the ground and drying in the field until ready to combine.

 Back near the house, I found something interesting where I planted a rooted Aucuba years back. It finally took a notion to grow about the time a little bird-planted Sassafras grove came up around it.

 Sassafras mittens turning yellow form a contrast to gold-dusted Aucuba and ferns.

 Farther into the garden, Crape Myrtles are a blaze of color reaching for the sky.

 Redbud trees turned yellow; they will quickly shed their leaves. Oak leaves turn brown and will fall from now to well after Christmas.

 Here's a peek at the nest full of seeds on the Cycad. Last time it had seeds, I picked some, soaked, 
cleaned and planted them to replace the one from the time before that the squirrel ate when it reached some size and I put it outside. There are two seedlings now that will stay in the greenhouse this winter. I haven't decided whether I need to grow more.  It amuses me to see them sprout.

He-Who-Mows ran over one of my small cycad pups. I discovered more pups of large size underneath this big cycad. I don't know if I can cut them back and hack them out. Maybe I could ship them to the Danger Gardenette. Those ferny-looking fronds are HARD and sharp and vicious.
 
Squirrels are everywhere, storing pecans and acorns. Acorns are abundant this year -- does that mean a hard winter?

A different color on Crape Myrtle.

Crape Myrtle in the back yard is still blooming bright pink blooms in the top along with a few pink Knockouts nearer the ground. Acid yellow-green in the right background is the color that pecan trees turn before they drop their leaves.

Autumnal Busy Work

It isn't working well to shove all the outdoor plants into the greenhouse with tomato plants growing over all the rest. I decided after nine years that having a potting bench in the greenhouse is not the very best use of space.

My thoughts before the move:

It's a beautiful cedar potting bench and it's been all over this greenhouse. This was not its final spot; here the back was to the door, making a little alcove in which to fill pots. I finally turned it around and had to stand on it to reach the plants on the tall shelf behind.

At 2 feet deep and 4 feet wide, it takes up a lot of real estate in a small greenhouse. I weighed the pros and cons and decided sweeping up potting soil in the mule barn is a small price to pay for more floor space in the greenhouse. White pots shown above are going with it to the Mule Barn empty for now.

Where it's going is at right angles to the window, just past the window. That will leave a space behind to access the back wall shelves placed since this pic was taken. Photos above are from the Greenhouse and Mule Barn's earlier days

After the Move:

Same perspective as the pic above, except a little closer. I left room to walk all the way around the potting bench. It distresses me to have everything lined up around the room and a big space in the center. I like to be able to reach from every direction and have little corridors between furnishings.

I remembered after the move that the Mule Barn has no water source except next door in the Greenhouse. Potting doesn't take much water and plants will usually go directly to the greenhouse.
The Mule Barn does have plenty of electrical outlets.

Back to the greenhouse with a couple of panorama pics showing the space the Potting Bench took.
 

The step stool and cart are for everyday plant care. Moved to the front, they'll leave room for a little table and a couple of chairs. Boards on the cart are for improvising tables and shelves for the few plants yet to find room indoors, a couple of ferns and some potted Agapanthus.

I was so pleased with the Agapanthus I potted last fall, so added another couple of pots.

October Bloom Day 2016, Drought

It's dry here. I've given up watering.

 

Angel Trumpets look best at night or early in the morning.

 Gulf Muhly Grass is not quite in full bloom.

 

Madagascar periwinkles persist, with Lantana.

 

Lantana and Setcreasea have grown into one another.

 

Tithonia

 

Duranta

 

Grandma's Yellow Rose

 

Mexican Bush Sage Salvia leucantha

 

Pentas

 

Esperanza Tecoma stans

 

Rabbit tobacco and White Lantana in front of the Mule Barn

Happy Bloom Day mid-autumn. Join other Bloom Day blogs at May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in other locations around the world.

You can peek into my little greenhouse where the outdoor pots have migrated: Dotty Plants. Visit any time this winter to see if I'm successful in coaxing bulbs into bloom again this year.

October Bloom Day 2016, Drought

It's dry here. I've given up watering.

 

Angel Trumpets look best at night or early in the morning.

 Gulf Muhly Grass is not quite in full bloom.

 

Madagascar periwinkles persist, with Lantana.

 

Lantana and Setcreasea have grown into one another.

 

Tithonia

 

Duranta

 

Grandma's Yellow Rose

 

Mexican Bush Sage Salvia leucantha

 

Pentas

 

Esperanza Tecoma stans

 

Rabbit tobacco and White Lantana in front of the Mule Barn

Happy Bloom Day mid-autumn. Join other Bloom Day blogs at May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in other locations around the world.

A Closer Look at Fall

He Who Mows cut paths for me to explore the wildflowers. We almost waited too late to see any Agalinis. We've been without rain for a few days and they dry up quickly.

I did get there in time for Helianthus. Beautiful swaths of little Sunflowers.

 There was Rabbit Tobacco everywhere. I know it is a wilding but I let it grow in my garden because I like the resinous fragrance of the leaves. Sometimes I put whole plants in the tool sheds over the winter.

 This patch of Silk Grass in bloom had Agalinis. You can recognize the dark green Y-shaped plants even without the pink blossoms. Silk Grass was plentiful this year.

Beautyberry foliage was wilted but the berries persist. Critters ate the berries off the one I let grow in the garden. They tend to plant themselves everywhere and I'm always torn between their invasive ways  and the berries.

Big patches of Goldenrod everywhere. I saw small plants and great honking five-footers, different places.

Swaths of Bluestem with white blooms, blowing in the wind behind some Helianthus. Up close is a smattering of Erigeron.

We don't have colorful fall foliage among our trees. Live oaks stay green and drop leaves in early spring. Deciduous Oak leaves mostly just turn brown and fall. There was some color among the Sweet Gums. Sumac is beginning to turn red.
 
We are experiencing 17 mph winds with gusts up to 30. It looks as if we won't get considerable rain from the outer bands of the approaching hurricane over on the coast but we are getting wind. So far we've a sprinkle, just enough to cause me to abandon bringing in the jungle cacti.