Good morning all, Happy Autumn to everyone! Can you even believe it? Seems like yesterday it was spring and we were all planning all the summer festivities and here it is another summer gone. As Im looking out at the September gardens here I have to thank all my Idyll and Garden friends whove given me so much information and inspiration over the last four years. There never used to be this much interest in the fall gardens. Ive learned so much here not to mention making friends for life. One of my lifes many blessings. So speaking of friends, I so wish you all could have been here for the afternoon yesterday. We started in a bit of a rush because Dougs cars battery died at the grocery store and he was stuck there for the longest time and got home barely in time to mow the lawn. I was running late because he was running late and anyway I was just finishing getting my hair put up when Chelone arrived. Normally Id be in a froth to be running that late but, no worries, these friends just are so laid back and mellow, no problems. Everyone arrived within twenty minutes of each other and Les and Monique brought up my bargain urn which took several of us to decant from Les minivan. Here is a pic I love the egg and dart detailing around the rim. What a buy, $50. for this because the corner is broken off. Detailing on the sides Anyway, originally I was going to put this in the way back on a rock I have back there but Im thinking I want to keep this in the front of the house as its such a beautiful piece. After we got the urn out of the car we had a lovely, leisurely tour of the gardens. As Ive said before and Ill say again, there is nothing as enjoyable as sharing the gardens with other gardeners. The high points were the Charles Grimaldi and all the lovely fuchsias are putting on quite a show at the moment. I was able to get some ideas for the new shrub border and show everyone the new pieced, rock mowing strip I put in a month ago. While we were doing the garden touring Doug was making salad and opened some wine then caught up with us outside and brought us a beverage of choice. What a peach! After the tour we settled in on the patio for our al fresco dining event. We started with Dougs famous smoked salmon served with the diners choice of pickled ginger, sour cream with dill, capers or hot pepper jelly as a garnish. I dont know how he does it but it is seriously the best salmon Ive ever eaten. Saucy brought a lovely home made bean dip, and a brillian bruschetta, Yum, yum! Wendy made her splendid spinach/feta/lemon dip. (Recipes please ladies) and Les made his gustatory delight guacamole. So who needed dinner after those appetizers? Well, we persevered, took a short breather and did justice to the main course of a crisp, tossed salad, Chelone brought fresh tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, Doug prepared grilled, marinated zucchini and the piece de resistance supplied by Sue/Tom/Monique and Les, gigantic prawns, marinated in garlic, cilantro grilled to perfection. Monique took some pics of these brilliant edibles from the sea and I hope she shares them with you all today. They looked like little lobster tails on the platter. What a superb meal! Whoops, almost forgot the corn on the cob but maybe I was trying to because Im now the laughing stock of the group because I eat my corn one row at a time. So maybe Im a bit OCD. LOL After another breather to make room (yes indeed there were home made desserts as well) we had Moniques magnificent apple cake with warmed caramel/pecan sauce and Wendys wonderful chocolate org - sm. (She assures us that really is the name of this decadent dessert.) Ahhhhh.. I dont think I need to eat for at least two days now. LOL As I said hopefully Monique will post pics of the food selections. (However, she really could avoid posting that unfortunate photograph of me and Doug with our faces pressed into the screen door. ) OK Ill post this then read the Idylls as there are lots of comments I want to make. Deanne

That is great news! Nice job :) FYI- you will probably need to stake AA Dahlias, and it is a bit tricky to do without piercing the tubers. I would plan to get stakes now, about a foot shorter than their mature height. I always put a 1 foot piece of bamboo in the ground when I plant them and they replace it with a larger (3-4')metal stake. I put the bamboo in so I can mark where it is safe to stake later, because I don't like looking at a bunch of tall stakes in the garden with little dahlias. I wait until the dahlias are 2-3 feet tall so they hide the final metal stake. Keriann~

Those old botanists were not exactly politically correct. The first Greek noun referenced in that epithet ("cyn-") has an even more unsavory aspect: it flowed into English many, many years ago in a form I will NOT wirte ANYwhere that is the most derogatory appellation for a female (human) that I know of ....

Some great SDBs. They need more chill than we receive so it's a treat to enjoy everyone's. All these oldies were shared over 10 years ago. Hopefully there are new viewers who've not seen them. At least that's my rationale. I admit I do love the drooping falls of the oldies. During the resurgence of popularity 2 local iris growers appeared. My greatest pleasure was to walk the rows and take pictures. And choose a few. Cabot Cove - HM'96, I love the uneven lavender color on the falls as well as the overall soft look of this one. Cajun Spice - HM'97 Caribbean Dream - AM'96, periwinkle that wants to photograph as blue. Carved Pink - HM'76, hadn't seen this beard color before. Quite a lot of fade the first day in CA sun. Champagne Elegance - RE, reliable bloomer, standards turn white. Change of Pace - AM'97 Chanteuse - HM'82, this one chokes me up. It hasn't bloomed these past few years of our drought and I so hope some of the non-blooming foliages are it. Cherry Smoke - excel bicolor to combine with purple, and a shortie at 34 inches. I'm guessing the purple is Titan's Glory or Dusky Challenger. More impressive in person. Couldn't capture the deepness of the purple.