The October Garden, Part II

The big task in the garden now is to clean things up for the winter.  And as of today Mrs. F.G. and our gardener are pretty well finished.  Don't know what we'd do without kind, supportive (and very hard-working) Andrew, and he appreciates the money.  But there are a couple of things I still want to share.

Our strange and wonderful vine, Mina lobata, or Firecracker Vine, is flowering like mad in the absence of frost.  Strange how the lighting conditions change the colours of the two photos.

The flowers themselves range from white to red along the stem, and usually two stems of flowers are held together parallel to each other.  You can see the stamens reaching out of the lower blooms here.

Our Zebra Grass has been doing magical things too, growing 8' tall right outside the window and tasseling.  It's been trimmed back now for the winter (so that I can see the bird feeder), but it was growing like it lived in the jungle.

This is the magical part, all the tiny pollen-bearing anthers dangling from the flower stems, perfect for being pollinated by the wind.  Grass flowers are not showy but for a few days they certainly are magical.

We also had one Dahlia that amounted to something with its rich yellow blooms.  I think it's the only one being saved for next year.

Our son and daughter-in-law visited for Thanksgiving, with their 'little puppy, Zombie, a Great Dane.  Big but very well behaved.  I noted the license plate on her new jeep as they drove away too.

I rode over to the window where I usually do my morning exercises and looked out - what a change, all the Hostas were trimmed away.  Yes, Mrs. F.G. is serious about garden tidy-up!