Shimmering Golds and Burgandies - Fall Has Arrived
A week away from my region and suddenly the world is different.
Suddenly the colors changed...
For Thanksgiving break my immediate family joined my extended family in South Padre Island for the holiday. We rented a beach house (not directly on the beach but within walking distance) and promptly spent most of the first four days inside. Gale force wind, rain, and a chill not regularly seen in that region thwarted most of our plans of beach combing and exploring the biodiversity of the region. I had plans to detour to Mission, Texas to the National Butterfly Center and found myself only managing to get to the Sabal Palm Sanctuary near Brownsville. It's nearly at the southernmost tip of Texas and behind the border wall. Finally, we got some beach time and explored a bit of the island and then drove home a week after we'd arrived. When we pulled into our driveway I was stunned to see the deep golds and maroon colors emanating from the trees. Leaves were easily falling and piling up around the yard. It was a drastic change from how we'd left it the week before.
Before I left I became a full-fledged gardener. I mean that in that I finally bought row covers for my vegetable garden. To me that has always been a Serious Gardener trick and I've been far too lazy to care about that. But finally, I'm tired of sharing my winter green crops with the caterpillars and because I don't spray insecticides it was time to buy a row cover system. I bought the metal pieces from Gardeners Supply and the cloth from Amazon and so far I am loving it! I need to rework one of them because it was the first one I put up, but so far it is doing its job as intended. *Crossing fingers* for a good green harvest in the coming months.
I'm a little scatterbrained this month so I'm going to keep this newsletter short. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!
Elsewhere in the Natural World
+The Untold Story of Hibiscus grandiflorus via Bitter Southerner (You can also listen to it as a podcast on their Batch Podcast show)
+Sorry, also short here this month!
Podcast Happenings
+Just Give Us Some Native Milkweed! Native Plants vs the Horticulture Industry
+The Horticulturati | Coleen Dieter & Leah Churner
Coming Up:
+Best Gardening Books of 2022
Finally, as always, if you enjoyed this newsletter and would like your fellow gardeners to know about it, forward it on and encourage them to subscribe!