Playing along with the theme of more traditional fall accents and how best to feature them for maximum impact,several thoughts come to mind. First, fall foliage color shows best against darker greens of evergreen or coniferous trees, or buildings. Fall foliage will tend to last longest if trees are sited to protect them from strong winds. This is particularly useful to remember with Gingko trees here in northern California. Drifts of shrubs with fall foliage color have greater impact than single accents, and more pleasing still is to combine variations on a color theme. We can often get very good fall foliage color here in coastal California with the right choices, and summer drought stress can even give early fall color on trees as early as August. Fall flowers can just as easily be vivid saturated tones here in a Mediterranean climate such as California's. Some of my favorites include vivid satiny fluorescent pinks of Nerine bowdenii and. Schizostylis coccinea or softer pinks of towering 20 foot tall Dahlia imperialism or chrysanthemum -like Tree Daisies such as Montanoa grandiflora which also smell like freshly baked sugar cookies in fall bloom. As well, there are almost too many fall flowering Cloudforest Salvias species for prominent end of the year bloom here, in jewel tones of deep blues, burgundy, rose pink, lavenders, and yellows. Salvias such as S. wagneriana, involucrata, splendens 'vanhoutei' to name just a few. I personally find it more fun to plan/design for massive fall blooms mixed with more traditional fall foliage than a big spring bling. In fact, the start of the fall rainy season here locally really is our equivalent of new growth and the native flora waking up again after 6 months of no rain. So really, October is our true spring as it heralds the hillsides turning green again, and the first flowers of natives such as Ribes sanguineum come as early as November.

Quietness and a slow pace seem appropriate given the subject matter. Maybe all the threads are now going to take years to develop, like bonsai.

I'm trying to follow a strict program for quilting HA,HA,HA!!! don't fall down laughing!!! I posted the prayer quilt I finished & am doing BD blocks. I FINALLY have my Piecemakers squares from the 2008 swap together & got the backing fabric. Soon, very soon ... This quarter I've had lots of essays to grade & am teaching Romeo & Juliet for the first time - and one class are very reluctant readers - so it's quite a challenge. DS also thought he was going to be laid off from his job so he went out & bought a puppy - needless to say, he didn't get laid off (yet). He's a field engineer in the oil industry so he left yesterday for a new rig assignment (usually 18-24 days) and we are taking care of this dog. Our dog Penny is a miniature Australian shepherd & FINALLY out of the puppy stage (she is 1-1/2) and now we have Max, a 10week old Siberian husky. DH is retired but not happy about all the time this puppy is taking - and it has been sick so he's been to the vet 4 times in the last week! Penny is being pretty patient since she has been an "only-dog" and almost like a little mother - until he takes one of her toys! It's not warm enough in Colorado for us to enjoy the 2a.m. trips to the back yard! This is Penny & Max under the table resting. Max - with chew toys. Good to hear from you Geri. Thanks for posting! Sue

Exciting times right Fred? Please take pics and share. Our own seedlings will be the most beautiful ever no matter what flowers they give us. Just like our children...and grandkids! LOL Talking about grandkids, my grandson (first boy in the family) will be born in just 2 months time. Now this excitement and anticipation is surreal! While I'm here in my pc, here's another new clivia that bloomed for me recently. I imported this from Japan last year.