October First Views (Town Mouse)


Here's what's a little odd about the weather here in the Bay area: The trees and other deciduous plants are turning color, and at the same time we often have the hottest days of them all in September and even early October. Above, some tired-looking lavender together with a native buckwheat - still going strong - and Asclepias speciosa, a native milkweed. Asclepias started turning color a week or two ago - and with weather like this, and on an irrigation line that goes on once a month, I can't blame that plant.


After the explosion of color in spring and the more muted shades of pink and white buckwheats in the summer - together with the stunning sunflowers - I'm enjoying the setting into fall, the yellowing and fading.


Eriogonum fasciculatum, the native buckwheat next to the dragon fountain, has more brown flowers than white by now.


In the front, Eriogonum arborescens has turned a rusty pink - in a few weeks, the flowers will be brown and I'll trim the whole plants to keep it a manageable size. To the left Salvia leucophylla is its most grey right now. All summer, the leaves of this plant shrivel more and more until they are fairly small and very hairy - then, over the winter, larger leaves grow and those large grey-green leaves will contrast nicely with the purple flowers in the spring.


Even coyote brush, the spot of green in gardens in locations with just a little more rain and fog, is turning an odd shade of yellow. Hope it will survive those last hot days before we hopefully see some nice drenching rain.


In the side strip, Epilopium 'Calistoga' has worked out very well - I'll get more of that plant this fall - and even Salvia spatacea has worked well enough for the spot and will stay. A special delight this time of year is the deer grass (Mulenbergia rigens), which is putting out lots of seeds to the delight of the migrating birds.

And now, I'll get a Mr. Linky widget and I'll hope some more of you will join Ms. Country Mouse and me in showing off some true views of your gardens. We both enjoy Garden blogger's bloom day so much - but we've found that we lose the big picture when we post our blooms so this is our chance to keep track of the garden over the year. 

Looking forward to visiting everybody else's first views - and this month, I won't be out of town so I'll come by soon. 

Comments

Autumn is my favorite time of year, but spring is my favorite time of year in the garden. Although the weather and the season are taking their toll, I do like the rusts and golds in your garden plants. Thanks for hosting.
Jason said…
Sounds like a west coast October is not quite as mellow, what with the heat. Still, a beautiful fall garden.
James said…
While there aren't huge numbers of plants in bloom the variety of the foliage colors is really pretty wonderful. The days down here are brutal but the evenings right about now are amazing. I hope the season treats you well up north!
Thanks for hosting once again. I really do love that pink flower contrasting with the fading foliage...and the deer grass with the red flowers is also stunning. Here of course we are in the middle of our color explosion with foliage in the gardens. My lavender is also looking worn but some have a few flowers with the cooling rains refreshing the garden a bit.
I've been trying to get some garden photos together, but 104F yesterday made me shun the notion of hauling my camera outside. I'm relieved it's much cooler today though! Your Asclepias speciosa looks much better than mine. Between those golden aphids, and some rather hungry deer, mine look a little beat up!
Town Mouse said…
Well, truth be told, my Asclepias doesn't look all that great either from close by, same aphids and some kind of soot-like fungus. But from a bit of a distance, the color really is enjoyable - and this plant seems to get happier every year.
Country Mouse said…
Lovely garden compositions - I'm particularly fond of the browning buckwheats - and the picture of it with the yellow Chinese ceramic - um - thing - I love that one.
Diana Studer said…
battling with the internet, but my post is up. I'll edit it tidy, when I can.