Here and there, fugitive roses are still blooming in the East Bay garden where they grow, but the other plants are mostly agreed to settle back and wait out the mild Northern California winter. They know that Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend and rain is predicted. The hollyhocks above were planted at mid-summer and did not do anything this year except look cheerful and optimistic and stay alive. Their challenge for the winter is to avoid being eaten by snails, because undoubtedly their roots have been busy growing and if the plants make it through to the springtime they will be poised to throw up six-foot spikes against the sunny fence behind them and then bloom madly in gorgeous colors that are today impossible to predict or even imagine.