10.07.2024 | Ordinary Monday

It's still dark outside here in the Carondelet Garden and there is a bit of a nip in the air that tells me it is truly Autumn in South Saint Louis.  The weather folks tell me that we should expect abundant sunshine with highs in the lower 70s.  Does it get much better than that?

The Lantana is doing its very best right now.  The Monarch Butterflies have returned and are feasting away before their long journey south.  What a glorious sight here in the side garden.  I learned something new to me about why Lantana changes color.  Once the yellow flower has been pollinated it changes to the pinky-red color.  An alert to the pollinators that those flowers are done.  How incredible is nature?

We are doing a bit of tidying up in the garden, but not too much.  I try to leave as much in the border, unless it is doing poorly, because the birds and others love the seedheads and the slight unruliness simply adds a bit of beauty in the eyes of this old man.  New mulch is going in to help over-winter some of the more delicate plants.  I am also finishing the border project with new steel edging in places.  Always something to do!

I love October and Autumn.  What a glorious time of year.  The beauty of the changing leaves and the last burst of color from the flowers.  A final burst of life before the first frost and the beginning of the darkness of Winter.  

A lot to get accomplished on this Monday morning in October.  Hi-Ho! Hi-Ho! It's off to work I go!  Have an amazing week gardening friends! That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.