We've had two nights of frost warnings; close but no hard frost as yet. When I see the grass and fields covered with that chilling silver cover, I always think of that fourteen century word - hoarfrost. I will have to check if the remaining roses got nabbed last night but after this weekend, I'm sure there will be little to retrieve from outside.

 

Our leaves are changing and the colors are starting to come into there full bloom and hue. As I scan the hillside I just marvel at the scenery and wonder why fall is not my favorite season. It dawned on me that it really is a sensory thing; the joy of the warmth of the suns rays in summer and then a visual delight in autumn. Winter is an aural experience. There is a silence that really can't be replicated; I am still overwhelmed by the silence that comes when the snow is falling on a cold crisp night. And spring is purely olfactory; the smell of the earth warming and thawing, the greening that comes from the trees and the running of streams that comes with the snow melt. I'm not sure why all this came to mind but there was the realization that the seasons were really a sensory experience - one as different as the next and each with their own beauty.

 

The orchids are in and the first of them is blooming. I was particularly thrilled when my largest vanda started to bud. I've had the three vandas for about three years and I was told that their light requirements was quite demanding so don't expect much. So I'm really quite pleased when to my surprise there was a bud head on my largest vanda. I put all the orchids outside from May to late September and I'm afraid they got beat up a little. Although a little dog- eared, I think they are healthier.

 

I have to laugh about my iris bed.  I think I mentioned that I had the whole bed dug up and I really thought that I could put most of them back into the same bed. My new ones are planted in a different place and figured maybe I could steal some space from my daffodils and daylilies. After replanting in the original bed, I had about two bushel baskets worth left over. I made two smaller beds in with the daffodils and still had another bushel to plant.  So now I encroached upon the roses. What started out as a simple project got extended in time and space. So for the moment they are in the ground and I can always reorganize next year.  I have to remember that I've been adding over the past ten years or so and finally they were chocking themselves out.  I'm sure they'll be a lot happier next year even though there were lots of very young rhizomes that might take another year or so to mature.

 

Suki.... I'm smiling as I read your comment!  I enjoyed the garden this year immensely. We're still enjoying carrots, winter squash, lettuce and if you can believe......water mellon. We had about 15 water mellons  that came in mid-August. I have one in the refrigerator and three more still in the garden.  And how can I forget the peppers; every color imaginable, hot and sweet and even a black one! My one regret is that we didn't plant more tomatoes.  For some reason they weren't as bountiful as I had expected.  The real trick is to stagger the planting.  With somethings it was feast or famine.

 

Anyway my blogging friends, enjoy the autumn weather and find peace in your days.  Fondly, Bittersweet