What would Jane Austen Grow?

Warm days, crisp nights and the golden glow of autumn light. Fall is my favorite season. I have been enjoying the fine weather we have been having the past weeks. I’ve been driving with the top down on my VW Beetle convertible and grooving to America. Life has been grand. In the past week I finally got sick of the purple wave Petunias in the ground, the geraniums in a pot by the front door and the mexican marigolds in my raised garden beds. So I ripped them all out! Friday afternoon in the 85 degree weather I was out in the garden in shorts and a hawaiian shirt, sweating as I pulled all that stuff out. Then came replanting. Pansies and mums were added to existing pots with grasses in the center. I left the Margarita Sweet Potato Vine and Coralberry Punch Callibrachoa in the pots by the garage. They’ll die eventually but they still looked good. The Milionbells in the pots by our electric box, however, did not and they were swiftly removed. I had selected some bulbs and managed to get them in the pots, too. I didn’t work as long as I had hoped but I got all the plants I had brought home planted and the plants that were really bugging me removed. I added a Swiss Chard and some lettuce to my raised bed. It’s a little late but I’m counting on a little more warm weather before we get a frost. I may even try to cover the beds with remay or something. We’ll see. It felt so great to get it done! Never mind that the rest of the yard is a jungle and we never really enjoyed our back yard at all this summer. I was glad to get a start on decorating for fall/winter. I’m hoping to get the rest of the bulbs planted next weekend and change out a few more pots then. Right now, for me, it’s all about soaking up as much sun and autumn air as I can. And enjoying life.