Friday, September 4, 2009

Dreams of Autumn

LET US CELEBRATE ORANGE PAST AND PRESENT  The fall color of the north does not come here until November and December.  Even then it is moderate. But having lived in mid-state New York for near on 20 years, I still feel autumn start now.  Even though I don't miss the winters, I do miss fall.  So I celebrate orange today.

 
 Pumpkins are the center piece.  Even though orange flowers are few in my garden's pastel palette, they are ones that are remembered here.

 The bird of paradise is magnificent when it blooms.  Soon I will have two new blooms. Even though it is the LA flower, it was brought over by settlers from South Africa.  It didn't seem real to me before moving here some 8 years ago. That's why I had to have one in my small garden. Now that it's grown, I have to prune it often, lest it impede the narrow walkway.

The miniature rose and small zinnia blossoms bring orange to my eyes in pleasant array.

Two shades of orange from the same rose bush enhance the vision of autumn.  In the North there would be leaves of this color, which I can only imagine here.
  
More pumpkins, these from last year.  Dreams of an autumn I only see in those few trips to New York in the fall.
A walk in a Ukranium camp in October 2006.  One of my last tastes of the lovely autumn in the North.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yep, I remember longing for leaf color when we lived in Mississippi. Every region has its assets however. We are lucky we can travel.
I like to plant right before rain so I'm out there in it also.
Donna

Jan said...

Hi Mary Delle, Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm sorry I don't get around to the many new blogs these days. It seems there are 10 or more every couple of weeks being added to Blotanical...and it's very hard to continue to keep up! You have certainly lived in a variety of gardening climates! I am not ready for fall as of yet...in fact, the orange isn't something I want to see yet! I still want pinks and blues and purples, and so far, they are still blooming. Our trees will begin to start their fall color changes in Oct. some time; Sept. is usually very warm so of course, I want to hang on to summer as long as possible! I almost 'dread' Halloween...it really reminds me the summer is gone. Thank goodness there's still at least another month left! And of course, it's understandable you are imagining fall, with your southern ca. climate it's just not the same as it was in NY!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

I've never seen an orange miniature rose! It's lovely, as well as other blooms. And of course, I love the last picture! Thank you, Mary!

Diana Studer said...

I'll have to talk severely to all our Strelitzias. They just won't flower! And they live here ...

Joanne said...

What a lovely cottage garden and blog

Barbara E said...

Hi Mary - found your blog from the comment you left on mine. I know what you mean about missing autumn. I grew up in NY and spent 13 yrs raising children in NJ. I actually find the liquidambar trees here kind of depressing since they poorly mimic the glory of northern and eastern fall.

Love the way your garden looks - kind of wild and peaceful.
Barbara

Thomas said...

What great fall colors! That rose is particularly stunning. I've lived in New England for the past 11 years and the fall colors of last September/October never seem to disappoint. It makes the winters here seem all the more bearable.

Perry said...

You have such a wonderful blog!