Hot weather this weekend. Often there are spells of hot weather like this along the Northern California coast in late September and early October -- when the flowers in the gardens are already beginning to subside and the plants are making ready for the relatively mild winters here.
Back in January we dug up all the calla lilies, spread them out, and replanted. Then all summer they languished, resenting the rough treatment they had received. Another upside-down sign of fall in this climate – they have at last forgiven us nine months later and are beginning to put out vigorous new growth.
Yes, the grass is very green at this time. This is mostly because a neighbor up the hill inadvertently left a hose running for 24 hours and flooded the entire lawn -- an experience it apparently enjoyed tremendously.
What little there is (in the way of flowers) to bring inside the house looks delicate and faded.
The large hydrangea bush never bloomed this year at all. Many theories have been floated as to why this old reliable plant did not do its duty, but no explanation seems conclusive.
Big spiders appear in the garden in the autumn. This one built a huge web a couple of weeks ago anchored to a climbing rose on the one side and a large jade plant on the other. A smaller spider was dancing around it in the afternoon – perhaps a male of the same species – and then they both disappeared. When the big spider later emerged from the foliage at stage left, she emerged alone.