"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Saturday, October 31, 2009

End of month view October 2009 and Happy Halloween.

I decided to start taking an end of the month view last month. Probably the main difference this month is that the leaves have started falling, and things are beginning to look bare. Maybe next month the leaves will be raked, and I might even tell you that the bulbs were planted below it!

In this picture you can see the strange way the Japanese Maple 'Orido Nishiki' is changing and loosing it's leaves. The lowest branches still have the variegated leaves in their usual summer colors. Below though it's easy to see that many of the top leaves have fallen and buried plants.

The leaves on the ground are still pretty and colorful.

They mix with the leaves of our other Japanese Maple and Dogwood. I wish they would stay looking this pretty, but soon they will be dry and brown.

Some of the pretty leaves still on the tree.

This is Heuchera 'Caramel' that I planted towards the end of summer. It's lost most of it's caramel coloring. I'm not sure if that's normal or not. I sure hope it returns to it's other coloring. Does it make you think of caramel apples, a favorite at Halloween?

One of our ghosts blowing in the wind. It was very windy while I was taking pictures and almost every leaf was blown off the Dogwood today.

Princess Gracie, who thinks she is Queen, even begrudgingly wore her costume for about 10 minutes this morning to say "Happy Halloween!" I'm not normally someone who dresses her dog and my husband says he won't be seen with a dog in a costume, but it's fun to try it on her each year. She's a good sport about it.

Tonight the girls will go trick-or-treating as Cinderella (Littlest Gardener) and a pageant queen (Sweet Pea). We don't usually get many trick-or-treaters on our street so I always make sure to buy candy I like, I'd hate for it to go to waste! :)
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41 comments:

  1. Princess Gracie is too cute in her Halloween costume. Adorable! I'm not sure if Caramel changes like this. Mine are still somewhat orangey though faded like everything else. This looks more like key lime pie or one of the green ones. It will probably come back out caramel next spring. You have have a safe Halloween tonight!

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  2. What beautiful fall colours! It is neat how the maples and other colour-changing shrubs are indicators of the micro-climates in our gardens. The vibrant reds where the cold winds blow (over the roof, in your example), and late-changing leaves in the sheltered pockets.

    Happy Hallowe'en!

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  3. Hi Catherine,
    Happy Halloween to you too! Love that costume for your princess. So cute! I like the ghost in the tree as well. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting.
    Rosey

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  4. your idea to take monthly photos is a great one.
    I love your fall colors of that great Japanese maple...super.

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  5. Beautiful fall colors although ours are just about gone with the wind and the rain we have had today. Happy Halloween
    vickie

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  6. Thanks for joining me in the end of month view and for your support over the last week. I am trying to find a way of returning to some sort of normality but as you can imagine it is very difficult. Blogging is really helping though

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  7. Those are pretty Fall leaf pictures Catherine. I especially enjoyed seeing Princess Gracie; she is precious. I like your idea of buying lots of your favorite Halloween candy; my theory exactly! Happy Trick or Treat to you and the girls.

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  8. LOL! Isn't she just precious as a Princess. She doesn't look to pleased with the whole thing.
    Your Fall leaf pictures are so pretty. I think I got all of mine raked but the oak leaves that keep blowing around.
    I am trying to get it into my head that October is gone and the time goes back. I will be screwed up for a month getting use to it ;-)

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  9. Princess Gracie is looking very cute!! My puppy isn't one for dressing up either!
    Love the colours - they are so beautiful. Great pictures, thankyou.

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  10. What vibrant colors ..the leaves look stunning..and magical..great photos!! AWww...I totally adore Pincess Gracie...sweet! Lovely post..beautiful!

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  11. Hello Catherine, your Japanes Maple it´s doing O.k., sometimes mine goes the same way... so lovely the ghost in the wind... and your Gracie dog, really cute!! and your pictures great as all of them!!
    Cariños
    María Cecilia

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  12. is that Lantana below the tree???? wow...it is huge...mine are never that big...but they are an annual here...your photos are wonderful...especially the little trick or treater!!!

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  13. I love the colour of the maple, and the shape of the leave.

    Happy Haloween.

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  14. Hope that the girls enjoyed their evening and that you enjoyed your favourite goodies :)

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  15. I just found your blog yesterday, and really enjoy it! I love the leaves as they are now, pretty and red. But, to everything there is a season. And before we know it, we'll be ushering in springtime!
    Brenda

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  16. Love you pum-queen! Beautiful pics.

    Have a BOO-tea-FuLl Halloween. TTFN ~Marydon

    ** Watch for huge giveaways that start tomorrow for several weeks.

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  17. I walked away from a fifty dollar Japanese maple, today. I guess I need to go back and buy it. Everything half price.... Gracie does tolerate it a little. She is a sweet dog. Your fall colors are looking great out there.

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  18. I agree. Chocolate can't be wasted. your dog looks adorable, but I have to agree with the husband on that one. Bet your girls look cute too.

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  19. What a colourful end to October! Have a fun weekend!

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  20. You have some beautiful fall colors! I don't know about the heuchera, but I like the color is it now.

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  21. Hello Catherine,

    That is such a good idea. I think it is much easier to see the difference that 30 days make if you take end of month photos. I love your dog's costume. Happy Halloween!

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  22. Oh, I do believe Miss Gracie wears that royal cape at all times. At least in her own mind that is. What a dear little pup. She reminds me of Molly, the toy poodle we had when I was a girl. A very sweet dog indeed.
    I hope you and the girls had a wonderful Halloween. I bet they were both quite a vision tonight in their costumes.
    Your garden by the way still looks amazing. I can't believe your flowers have stood so well against all this rain. It has sogged my roses to mush. I am going to have to follow your lead and grow some of the ones you have.

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  23. Great show of foliage, Catherine! Hope your girls had fun trick-or-treating! I love their costumes and that billowing ghost in the tree ;)

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  24. Nice pictures...especially that with
    Miss Gracie.I love the ghost too...it`s very well achieved.

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  25. Hi Catherine, they are so nice those maple pictures, the colours of them are amazing. But your Heuchera 'Caramel' looks strange. I have that one to and some others in the same coloure and none of them change coloure like that. Hope it goes back to normal again for next spring. It makes me wonder, do your Heucheras keep there leaves during the cold season? Mine does, I just thought that maby that's why yours switch colour? Happy Halloween / gittan

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  26. I love Acers in Autumn - they have such fantastic colours.
    You'll have to imagine how glorious the colours are over here too - I dropped my camera into the soil once too often and it's given up the ghost (a local saying that is strangely appropriate for halloween!) :)

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  27. You have a lot of beautiful fall colors in your yard! I especially like the first picture with all of those colorful leaves at the foot of the tree.

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  28. What a glorious colour your Japanese Maple is - the leaves give a wonderful blanket of colour on the ground.

    K

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  29. I hope Halloween was fun.

    Princess Gracie does indeed seem to be wearing that costume begrudgingly!

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  30. You are right. Those leaves are still so lively and gorgeous. Princess Gracie and the ghost are my faves :)

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  31. I know what you mean about dogs in costumes, I don't really hold with that sort of thing either..except for a photo at Christmas wearing a santa hat and a beard! Cute photo!

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  32. The fall colors in your part of the country are so vibrant - I've been enjoying them in your recent posts.

    Cute doggie! My kitty Gracie gets a witch hat for Halloween -- for about 10 seconds!

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  33. Love the leaf pics Catherine. It is too bad they go brown and crunchy.

    Princess Gracie looks cute in her costume!

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  34. A beautiful end of the month view. Here the rain and wind have taken just about all of the leaves, but these last couple of weeks I have been particularly aware of the leaves, colors and shapes and the progression of change. Beautiful post.

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  35. Your husband would never go anywhere with us then! Our poor dog is always being dressed in some kind of outfit. I just bought him a pink leopard coat! Yes, I know, he's a boy but it was too cute! Wait till you see it ~ I'm sure he'll be on the blog in it this winter. :-) Gracie is adorable as a princess. I'm glad she left the costume on at least for you to get a picture. We don't get that many trick or treators either so I do the same thing you do even tho I don't need to eat any candy! Your maple tree is gorgeous. Interesting how it's losing its leaves. If you figure out why, let us know. Hope you had a fun Halloween.

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  36. Those fall pictures are so beautiful. Love the ones with the leaves especially.
    Debbie

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  37. It's always smart to buy your favorite Halloween candy! It is a shame the leaves can't stay that beautiful color all winter! I love them lying on the ground~~they almost look as nice. Catherine, as always your photos are lovely and a pleasure to see. gail

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  38. Catherine, I responded to your comments on my site tonight, but I'm going to somewhat duplicate them here, too. It is with such interest that I looked through this post to see what Fall is like in your area. What is the typical behavior of deciduous trees in the Fall/Winter months where you live? I have this concept that your area is fairly temperate ... do you normally receive snow and cold temps in the Winter?

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  39. Shady - Our typical winter is cold and wet :) Usually our daytime temps stay in the 40's, but we do get our share of days that stay in the 30's. We have lots of wind and rain and except for last winter where we had a lot of snow, we usually just get a few days of snow that sticks around for more than a day. Our deciduous trees do lose all their leaves and we usually see them coming back in March and April. Thinking of this is making me cold :)

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  40. Superbes erable japonais mais il ne lui faut pas trop de soleil.J'aimerais en avoir un .
    Joli jardin

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