Why is it

 

That there is a soul-deep joy in putting out the plants in the spring, in planting the cannas, in starting tomatoes and whatever strange and mysterious flowers that Becky has bought for me, yet bringing them all in is like a husky black cloud glooming up my day?

I don't know, but there are three rows of canna lilies out there to dig and store, plus a whole batch of the dwarf ones in pots to haul indoors. Ugh. At least the houseplants are in and safe.

BTW, this year and last I saved seed from my favorites of these little ones and grew new plants from them. I tried starting the seeds in peat pellets, which worked somewhat, but germination was poor at best. However I put some right out in the dirt in big pots in the spring and got lovely plants that bloomed eagerly. At five bucks a plant this is a real economy...plus I do love a garden challenge.

We had an incredible haul of tomatoes this year. They must love the hot dry weather we have had. There is still maybe a peck or two out there, mostly pretty green, but we will pick them all and see what happens. Becky has offered to see how fried green tomatoes do in the air fryer, so we can probably use them one way or another. (Update: nothing left out there now, but the Husky Red Cherry tomatoes that haven't ripened yet.)

I am not a winter person, and tending my myriad houseplants over the winter is a poor substitute for a real garden and cheerful flowers any place I can fit a plant. However, October Big Day is Saturday, and the sea ducks should be drifting through in the coming weeks, so there's that....

Happy Fall to All.