I've been wondering the same exact thing... I've got several tender items still gathering energy out in pots, outside in the gardens. I just re-potted my Sprekelia, so all that will need to come indoors is a good spray of insecticide. I think the Lycoris radiata bulbs are in a large enough pot, so I don't think they'll require any re-potting, either. I do have several Gladiola corms and Canna roots that will require un-potting and storing... and I'm not sure how to go about that, since this is my first year growing them. I have Oxalis, too, but I believe those can stay in the pots and just go into the basement for winter. My indoor Hippeastrum bulbs definitely need some major attention... many need larger pots and new medium, and others can be grouped or separated, as needed. What's the proper time to re-pot Hippeastrum bulbs? Right after flowering, as with most other things? Or, after their growth cycle, when they're winding down and the days are getting shorter? I doubt I'll have the space to pull and store any of them dry... perhaps I should just treat them as houseplants, and re-pot when necessary, leaving the rest as they are. I'm so busy with outdoor garden projects, my Hippeastrum care has gotten away from me, to some extent! How bad is that!?! Even worse, is the thought that I've definitely had this conversation before... only, I can't remember the outcome! My memory is getting really bad...

My President Johnson is by far the largest (tallest) followed by Apple Blossom, a Red Pearl, Red Nymph and Bonfire. I discovered last night that the bulb sellers are quickly selling out. I went back to order some additional bulbs, and many are sold out. Oh well...I'll get what I want. This year I'm focusing on my own crosses and I hope some will bloom. Next year (2013) I am hoping that the crosses I made with Jewel will bloom. Those should be interesting!! I have Limona x Jewel, Red Lion x Jewel, and Lady Diana x Jewel, amongst others. I also was able to make many crosses with Alfreso this year...so don't expect those to bloom until 2014...I'm patiently awaiting some fragranced blooms from these! I have several Gordie selfs that I can't wait to see how they bloom out and many crossed with Gordie. I'm hoping some of the veining is passed on to the offspring. Although, first year blooms are never as magnificant as blooms from a mature bulb. I have NO IDEA how I am going to get everything in the greenhouse! Many of the more precious bulbs may go on the enclosed patio. Kristi

Woody, that link worked fine and it was nice to have a look back at gardening years past! You weren't kidding about them blooming at just a few inches, it looks as if they were still in pots and sending up flowers. Thanks for the seed offer but my roses are already on borrowed time with Rose Rosette disease running rampant in the wild multiflora roses and then here and there spreading to garden plants. I'm trying to avoid adding new ones until things settle down... Cyclamen purpurascens seems to be my hardiest, but it flowers midsummer and doesn't go dormant like the other two, which makes it harder to work in than the others. Don't be jealous of the grass. It's perfectly hardy, but frost fades the flower heads and it blooms so late I'm lucky if I get to enjoy the color for more than a few days. Much better suited to the South. Nice to see so many fall flowers. Fall is by far not my favorite season and if it came down to a vote I don't think it would even make the top three but each year I dread it less. Throwing in the gardening towel in September makes for a very long winter, so I'm glad to still have things to enjoy for a few more weeks!

Jacob, Every year I always hope that the first frost of autumn will be later than average. It rarely is. There was one glorious year in the early to mid-2000s when the first frost/freeze (and it was both at once) didn't arrive until around December 17th or 18th. We had the best fall garden production that year anyway, and then it got to go on and on and on forever. We went from not having had a single frost or freeze to dropping down into the mid-teens. It was a very dramatic ending to the growing season. Filling the garage/shop (1200 square feet of space) with 'stuff' wasn't as big of an issue 10-15 years ago as it is now because Tim always knew exactly where everything was. It might have looked like a mess to other people, but he could walk in there and instantly find what he needed/wanted (though no one else could) no matter how small or obscure it was. The problem is that as you get older, your memory gets worse and now that he is in his 60s, he has a harder time finding stuff. When you cannot find what you need after much searching, you go buy a replacement. I think when we do clean up and reorganize the garage, we'll find duplicates of a lot of tools and things. To me, that's a sign we need to clean it up and organize it. And, so we shall, hopefully on a few winter weekends. Our trees have done about the same as yours. One day last week I saw a few glimmers of red and yellow foliage in our woodland areas but everything mostly was green still, and this week the there has been an explosion of color. I am so excited. We often go from green foliage to falling brown foliage literally overnight, so to have a year where we are having glorious reds, yellows and golds is awesome. I want to enjoy every minute of it because it likely will be several years before we have such good autumn color again down here. Nancy, It is SO true that the older one gets, the older that 'old' gets pushed out there into a higher age range. When we moved here, we were barely 40 and had moved into an old farm and ranch neighborhood where everyone here had lived here pretty much their whole lives. Most of them were in their 60s, 70s, or 80s and seemed impossibly old to us, although our next-door neighbors were about our age. Some of our new neighbors had kids our age or older, all of them were grandparents or great grandparents. Not some of them are great-, great-grandparents. Of the original neighbors still alive, most are in their 80s or 90s, and to us, 60 no longer seems old at all. (grin) Even the 80 year olds don't seem as old to us now as they once did because we're getting closer in age to them. When a younger family moves into our neighborhood now, I am all too aware that they undoubtedly see us as the old folks..... The bad thing about moving into a neighborhood where almost everyone is so much older than you is that you find yourself going to tons of funerals over the years. But, then, on the other hand it is an awesome blessing to have neighbors you love and adore so much that you truly grieve for them after they pass away. I'm glad you can see in the formerly dark room. I have been amazed to discover how much good lighting can improve any space. Larry, That tree is gorgeous! Nancy, I totally understand about wanting someone to be at home taking care of the animals. That is what we usually do, and it usually is Tim who travels to PA for family stuff, and I stay here and mind the zoo. It isn't that I don't want to go to PA with him, but rather that it just would be so hard to find someone to take care of all our dogs, cats and chickens. When you go, I wish you safe travels. Cats are such a hoot! They are incredibly entertaining and, yet, they steal inside your soul and capture your heart as well. When going through a box of stuff in the closet the other day, I came across a calendar I had saved from 2014 because the cat poems in it are too precious and at the same time hysterically funny. The cat calendar is entitled "I Could Pee On This" and it has a cat poem (theoretically written by the cat in that month's photo) and I believe it is the January cat who wrote "I Could Pee On This". That poem completely cracks me up because it is so true---if you seriously upset some cats, they will retaliate by peeing on something precious to you. Earlier this week, two of our cats were playing with each other---but one (Lucky) was inside sitting on the desk in the girls' room and the other one (Pumpkin) was outside. They were play fighting with one another, separated by the window. I had a hard time focusing on the cleaning task at hand because I was watching them and laughing at them. We finally had sunshine on Friday. It was pretty chilly for much of the day, but got a little warm in the afternoon. The important thing was that we had the sunshine! The foliage here still is largely green, but there's big bursts of reds, golds and yellows now scattered around all over---still mostly elms, persimmon groves and, for the red foliage, a handful of red oaks (most red oaks are just beginning to change color), sumac, ornamental pears, Chinese pistache, and poison ivy. For anyone who doesn't think they have poison ivy running wild in their native woodland areas here, all you have to do is stand and look into the woods and you'll see the poison ivy now a scarlet red wherever it has climbed upward through the trees. Later on the Virginia creeper vines will change color as well. There's still a lot of red in the garden, mostly in the form of the flowers of zinnias, pineapple sage and Texas hummingbird sage. Oh, and autumn sage of course. I'm going to miss all these colors when frost and freezing temperatures arrive and take them away from us. We're supposed to hit the lower 80s today and tomorrow, so I hope everyone will remember to watch for increased snake activity. Why are we hitting the 80s? Well, I'm not complaining, but it is making me rethink my costume for tonight's Halloween party. I based the costume (I'm going to be a black cat) on wearing a black sweatsuit. Hmmm. That might be too warm, so I guess I'll switch to lighterweight black clothing and attach my cat tail and cat accessories to those clothing items. Here in OK, you never know if Halloween will be hot/warm or freezing cold. I think the actual Halloween will have cold, rainy weather, but most of the community Halloween stuff here is happening this weekend during the heat wave. Of course it is. At least the kids who go to the Trunk or Treat event in town tonight won't have to wear coats over their costumes. I saw some persimmons on one of our trees yesterday and am going to try to get them today (they're too high to reach but maybe I can knock them down with a pruning pole). I want to cut them open and see if the southern OK persimmons also are showing spoons like those in other parts of the state and the country. Dawn