Well, we aren't having a banner year here, but, since I started this thread, here's a little more of what we have. Silver leaf poplar catching some morning rays at the top at sunrise: The poplar later in the day with an immature Pear coloring up in front

Not a Dudleya, but Cotyledon orbiculata v. longifolia. I use this a lot in local landscape designs, as it thrives in very tough situations of drought, thin topsoils, deer and gophers, and looks good year round. There are also forms of this Cotyledon from all over South Africa, and some from quite high up in the mountains with an amazing degree of cold tolerance. If you do a search by species name within my Flickr sets, you'll find lots more examples of how I've used it. Here is a link that might be useful: Cotyledon orbiculata v. longifolia

Lynne, Country/Victorian is what I call my decor too. The country part is mostly items I've kept from my more country/primitive past, and the victorian part comes from my love of all things lace,roses,ribbons,pastels,etc. All my furniture is oak which is sort of out of style now--but I still love it and no way I will be replacing a whole housefull of furniture! Magpie, I forgot to comment about you collecting cattails from the drainage ditches. I don't see them out here, but when we travel and I see them, I always want to stop and get some--but I'm afraid of two things. There might be a snake just hiding in that ditch or I might slip and fall in! LOL Lynn, I love our cardinal on the acorn. I think I will spray some clear gloss sealer on mine to make him look more ceramic. Karen, didn't you say you did that with yours? OA, that's my favorite pumpkin. The leaf has sort of a metalic looking glaze on it. Did you recognize the acorn guy in the gold cloche? He came from one of our craft shows too. Glad you "enabled" me to get the new little squirrel with the acorn candle holder even though he was that resin instead of ceramic--he's cute! Luvs

I got an email notification about this thread. I had forgot all about it. It’s nice seeing the colorful plants this time of year My plants never colored up since we when from warm days to freezing temps. Maybe next year. I do want to thank Mike for sending me the cuttings! They are amazing and truly appreciated. They’re all cramed into my only decent southern window. Sorry for the poor picture