Can We Talk 2

It's Fall Finally

         A group of friends were complaining about the lack of color in the trees last week. Some of them live in the country and drive into town. The leaves are falling without turning. But today my yard has color. There are reds and amber and yellow. A neighbor has a brilliant red tree by the road. So the colors are just late. Of course, we had a hard downpour this evening, so most have probably fallen now.

         We've had a few chilly days, but most days have still felt nice. Shirt sleeve weather if you're working outside. Poison ivy weather, too. The itching has stopped after almost two weeks, but the raised red rash is still there on my arms. The mosquitoes are still out. Some people are babe magnets, but I'm a mosquito magnet. The holly tree is jammed with berries, not red yet, but not green any more either. They're actually a funny shade of brown-orange. Soon we'll have more red than green on that tree.

         As for my herb garden in pots on the deck: the basil is gone. Even the dead woody stems smell good when you break them off. The sage looks better than ever, but that won't last. I grow more sage than I can use, but can't find anyone who wants some. I use a lot of it fresh. It will survive the winter and won't even need covering. Same for the chives, which have begun to wither around the edges. I've used more of those lately and am trying to dry some. The parsley wasn't looking great the more I harvested it. I moved it out of the frost under the eaves of the roof, so it's still hanging on. But some yellowing leaves tell me it's too cold at night to hang on much longer. The tarragon was looking bad in the summer, but I trimmed it back and it made a revival. It's up next to the door under the overhang, so it's looking good, too. I'll put some in the infuser as soon as I have time. I think the rain tonight means no frost.

         I need to bring last year's poinsettia back inside and find a closet for it to start reddening in a few weeks. I've never been successful, but I'm not giving up yet. I killed all the orchids I had indoors, so there may be room for the dill I'm trying to bring in. I thought that was gone. I tossed off many of the bigger plants that had turned brown and stiff, but they must have shed some seed before I did. New plants came up! This late in the year! I like to cut it up in chicken salad and other dishes.

          We started a pineapple plant. I don't know how many times my mother tried, only to see it rot. My husband and I tried, too. I guess his mother had done so, as well. This summer, I stuck a top on an old pot of dirt. Dad and I have watered it. We have been shocked to see that it took root and has been fairly sturdy. I'm bringing it in tonight, if the rain lets up. I need an indoor plant area. The windows in the guest bedrooms downstairs are protected from direct sunlight by an overhang, but get lots of light all day. We have them all jammed full of strange plants we've had for years. I need somewhere new for the pineapple and herbs.

         I got some new gardening gloves. When it dries up, we're back on leaf raking detail. We have tulip bulbs and crocus to plant in an area, my 90 year old father spent the last 3 weeks clearing out. (That's where I got m poison ivy.) It keeps him moving. We love to watch the birds, too. We have cardinals year round. I can see one nesting in a branch outside my living room window over the patio. That tree looks awful and needs to come down, but who wants to lose the birds?