A Last Hurrah!?

What a great day! Mild morning with temperatures around 75. Just perfect. Perhaps this is the last "best weekend" of 2008 (and next 6 months too!)? Sunday should be just as nice. I'll actually try to garden and not get too distracted. I counted about 12 pumpkins in our backyard that are a result of what we thought was planted cantaloupe last year, later found to be pumpkins that the squirrels destroyed and apparently left some seed for 2008. The grass above is the fall color of flame grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens') that just started a week ago. Usually the coloration is maroonish but we've all noticed the pronounced "orangey" color this year. Usually you'll see the flower/seed heads as well but they haven't formed on this one yet. The native sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) turns yellow with the first light frost (hence the name "sensitive"). This fern has course fronds and thrives in damp situations. This shot was taken in our fern & moss garden. I wish we had more time to evaluate all the ferns in this garden as was the original intent. We have some rare ferns in that garden and have one of the largest fern collections in the midwest if not the nation.