GardenBook

Solstice day today, a wonderful non-idealogical event that all can enjoy. Gotta love those pagans. A brief walk about with the camera between rainshowers presented a few opportunities , and lots of mud. Many weeds were seen but not photographed . The topmost Satsumas were damaged by the early freezes , but the kale is unfazed. Fuchsias were carefully covered by frost blankets , to no avail. One hopes that they re-emerge in spring.

The process begins of moving the plants around to locations that will best facilitate their winter survival. Inside and up against protected walls go the Begonias and the other tropicals that will return next year with a bit of protection. I hover over the succulents...slow growth and expense make them an important target for extra care. The Fuchsias have been installed in a tent prepared for them in RV World . Indoors there are clusters of plants in various locations close to windows and doors;all looking splendid now but I expect leaf drop and spindly growth by January. Just like we humans, plants that are stuck indoors develop a pallor -botanical cabin fever.

The GGW photo contest for this month is also the last of 09 , and I thought at once of a series of photos I took last fall on Oak Knoll Rd near Trefethen Vineyards. As one travels through this valley the vines create a lineal view-planted in straight rows and moving your eye into the distance. Combine this draftsman like view with the blazing color of the fall leaves ..you do indeed have the end of the line. The fruit is picked , the juice is beginning it's transformation into the good wine, and the vines will soon be bare, with a carpet of mustard in the rows.

As I drive through the valley it is hard not to pull over every mile or so , camera at the ready..this is something that needs to happen in the early morning before the tourists have had their leisurely breakfasts and are ready to hit the road. The wind has hammered us in the last 24 hours and the hose that was put away neatly for the season is back in use. Winds are common in fall all along the length of California, though in the South they tend to come off the dessert and be hot and desiccating , the stuff that leads to bad fires in the hills. Here the hills are green. At Franciscan, this wonderful nod to fall caught my eye.

Like spring, there are always new things to see in the fall garden .

Thinking here about a 'favorite ' month. They all have attributes- though those of August have slipped my mind at the moment , and I have my doubts about January . May is full of promise and spring abundance, and just about everything is blooming at least a little in June. October however, has features that are undeniably compelling, with the added urgency of the proximity to the descent into winter. If October is frost -free , everything still grows and bursts with maturity and sheer size; in this garden only the Dahlias suffer-victims of the shade that invariably comes before leaves are gone. Certain corners are damp and shady, but the hose is put away and the roses gather themselves for another display of flowers before the frost comes. In the valley the vines are turning and we see Sycamores, Pistache, Poplars -many trees that annoy us 10 months out of the year , but for whom all is forgiven in October.

A welcomed visitor- the hose will be retired at least for the next week or so; there is enough in the buckets to satisfy the containers. The first rain was windy, and heavy, no polite entry into the season this year and the soil looks uniformly dark again, the plants clean, the containers plumped up. The rain gauge logged 4.5 inches, very believable in view of the water level in the neighborhood park.