Fall Colors

It's here! The cool nights we've had for the last two weeks have caused some leaves to change color in our neighborhood! Of course, most of the trees in our neighborhood are Spanish oak and they don't change color. So when I walked up to the house this morning and saw the brilliant golden leaves on my Chinese Date tree, I got all excited. This is the most "color" I'll get.


Another indicator that Fall has arrived is the ripening of the berries on my holly bushes. The migrating birds are going to find these soon, and then they'll be gone. But they sure do bring some bright color into the flower beds.

As I looked around, though, I saw signs of confusion. After a long, hot and very dry summer, the rains came in September and October and caused much of the flora to think it was spring. So we have more flowers blooming now than we had all summer. I have several pink Gerbera daisies blooming by the mailbox.

Speaking of pink, this salvia has sweet, delicate little flowers dancing on the tips of its branches. I guess it really appreciates the warmth of the sun during the day, as well as all the rain we've been blessed with since September.

The orange lantana is also in bloom, right along side the crepe myrtles which have dropped their leaves already. It's been a very perplexing predicament for my plants.