Happy Halloween All!

I'm sure that many neighborhoods have houses whose owners go all out  decorating for Halloween.  We saw this one on the way home from the pumpkin patch a week ago.

 

The road stripe yellow color of the house somehow makes it seem scary and silly at the same time.  I bet it's quite interesting when lit at night.

 

 Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones?  Somehow I pictured the prophet looking a little more like Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments  and less like Casper the ghost in a witch's hat but we learn something new every day!

Is the one that's sort of sideways unable to remain fully inflated because he's the holey ghost?

Um, o.k. there's a lot going on here!

When a welcome mat just doesn't convey the whole message,  a savvy host knows that a few severed heads hanging from the porch make guests feel at home.

Feel like hanging out for a while?

to the Halloween store and bring some of this stuff with you, there's none left for anyone else!

Do you do anything special to celebrate the eve. of the Feast of All Saints/ All Hallow's Eve/Halowe'en?   

A Very Scary Visit to Watson's

Is this a comment about patrons staying a little too long at the nursery?  Oh sure, pack a lunch, stay all day, in fact why not spend eternity here!

Flowering cabbage/kale looks gorgeous to me but some of you find it quite frightening.  BOO!

Like alien arms, the leaves draw you toward the insatiable mouth of the monster.

Hey, where did Alison go?  We'll miss her.

I have one of these that grows in a pot and I'm very tempted to let it loose in my parking strip.  I've heard that they'll take over.  Does anyone have experience with Physalis alkekengi set free in the garden?

Nearly pink pumpkins or just a winter squash trying to fit in for the season?

Is there a message here with 'Blonde Ambition' in full bloom/seed with death close at hand?

Don't be frightened, Loree, the weeping Atlas Cedar can't hurt you.  It may be creepy but it's tied up...for the moment...

We interrupt the scariness for some pictures of lovely foliage.

The beautiful variegated foliage of Callicarpa dichotoma 'Summer Snow' (beauty berry) charmed me into buying one earlier this summer.  The blooms on this one are just opening now as are mine at home.  This is supposed to happen in the spring and purple berries are supposed to follow in autumn.  Do you suppose they'll eventually fall into line?  Anyway aren't the purple hues of the autumn foliage pretty?

Disanthus cercidifolius, one of the best shrubs for autumn color, would have come home with me if there was a single inch of empty space in my garden.

Meanwhile, inside, there are more fun displays.

Love the velvet pumpkins! 

Clever idea!

My garden may just need one or two of these.  Perhaps growing out of the bowling ball bed?

Ornamental peppers. 

A new (to me) Schefflera.  Who could resist that interesting variegation and nifty scalloped leaves.

Has Peperomia always been this pink?

Everyone could  squeeze one more Sansevieria in somewhere.  The require almost no light and even less water. 

x Groptovelia 'Opolina'  so soft so pretty, so ghostly.



Todd's Nursery

 

Is there a nursery that you visit far to seldom?  For me, Todd's Nursery is one of those.  It's a wonderful and huge place very close to a couple of pumpkin patches that we often visit in the fall.  Each time I visit  this late in the season, I vow to do so more frequently during spring and summer.  

 

This is a large establishment that has paths that seem to wend on forever through fabulous plant offerings.

Must go back in winter to see this gorgeous acer palmatum's bare limbs. 

So much gorgeous autumn color! 

None of my pictures  captured the vibrant glow of  this cotinus.  So gorgeous that it almost jumped into the car. 

Fun project idea.

Is this cute or what? 

Love this smaller size too.

Can you imagine walking through all of this loveliness while plant shopping?

If you're lucky, you may run into this handsome fellow who is a remarkably friendly rooster!

A series of bridges cross a creek at various points and lead further back toward a huge pond, man made, I think with resident fowl and a very impressive bamboo grove.

Park like in areas,  natural feeling in others, this would be a special garden in which to live.  add to that the wonderful nursery and it truly is a gardener's paradise.

Sorry about the dearth of images of the plants for sale.  You can see more from last year's visit here.

One of Todd's specialties is water features and koi.  Here are a few of these moving jewels.

I was particularly smitten with the one in the center of this picture.  It was a beautiful color approaching lime green.  You really can't tell the color from the images but the color was highly unusual.  I don't think these, in the show pond  are for sale.  Must go back and visit this handsome chap! 

Interesting collection.  Todd's has been in operation since 1960 and continues to be a very special place. 

 

I was forced to bring home a Daphne × transatlantica  'Summer Ice.' It seduced me with it's fresh, sweetly scented blooms.  Who wouldn't fall for a Daphne that's easy to grow and blooms from April through November?  Fall is a great time to visit nurseries, take advantage of sales, and get lots of planting done!