A dusting of snow, cold temperatures, Christmas pictures.........................

...............I have been hearing about all of the above on blogs and facebook which will cause this posting to seem so out of season.  I took a slow walk around my yard yesterday with my camera and this is what I saw......................

Starting in the front yard, I do see a few acorns and fall leaves but I also have lots of things blooming. I have several new pansies and snapdragons planted among the perennials but will save that area until  the new plants mature a bit.

This plectranthus is blooming fuller than I have ever had before. And, it seems like it is a brighter color.

This is my favorite stepping stone. I recently cut shapes out of sealing tape to cover each piece that is not black and spray painted the rest. It had faded and worn off.  That took awhile but, was worth it. Might have looked better if I had dried it off.

 This is Ducher. It is a great performer!  Blooms off and on all year, has less black spot than any of my roses and is easy to keep under control as far as size goes.

We have had a few cold nights and chilly days and that always gives the roses a renewal from the hot summer.  Almost all mine are blooming and with larger blossoms.

Now, down the west side of the yard I have this Clair Matin, a rambler.  Never the best looking bush but its clusters of roses are always so nice.  They make me think of fruit tree blossoms.

Clair Matin,  and a neighbors very tall palm.

Last week I completely redid this raised bed with new soil, and some cold weather herbs - parsley, cilantro, dill, thyme, and swiss chard.

Resident rabbit is just licking his chops!  Oh, yes I put an arugula in here also. I like them just to let them flower. I love their ivory blossoms.  If everything grows well this bed will be full!

This is the second raised bed and still has established plants but I added arugula in here too and set my new tub of red sails lettuce in an empty spot. There is an upright rosemary in the back corner and a prostrate one in the front. And, you can see a culantro (tastes just like cilantro) in the left front.  The "boots" have thyme which is starting its third year, unusual because thyme is very hard to keep through the summer here.

Not in the raised bed but showing to the right is my bay.  It would probably be about eight feet tall if I had not been cutting it back.  It's not in a good spot to allow for full growth.

Blooms on the rosemary.

We are now looking just below the raised beds at another favorite rose - Marie Van Houte.  It starts out almost white but as the blossoms mature gets a very pretty pink around the edges.

White Cleome - spider flower.

Duchesse De Brabant

Berries on nandina.  Not many this year but will still use them in an arrangement later this week for Thanksgiving.

I also like to use the turning nandina leaves for bouquets.

The foliage on this marigold has the most pungent fragrance of any flower I know.  Some people hate it and others love it.  I grew to like the smell. I love to stand and water here.  The air becomes filled with different aromas.

Varigated jasmine. The picture just doesn't do it justice. That's what I'm thinking about a lot of these pictures. You are not seeing what I see! The flowers are a nice cream color and more showey than it appears here.

An overview of one area with the marigold, purple mexican bacthelor buttons and several other plants in the background.

White penta.

Flax lily

Paddle plant with mexican batchelor button on the ground.

My back yard gets a lot of shade.  The potato vine is still lighting it up. The strawberry pot which is planted with garden gnomes and toadstools is sitting on the stump where a tree was recently removed. You can see a bay tree in the back?  Some of these leaves will probably be in a Christmas arrangement.

Coleus

Red penta.  The butterflies just love these.

I could keep on going and going but this is a lot of plant looking, and I have probably lost some viewers already,  so will save the rest for another day.

It is in the low eighties this afternoon, no sign of snow, the chilly north wind is not blowing. It does look very fall-like inside and I have the turkey in the refrigerator. The next post will look more seasonal and after that - BRING ON CHRISTMAS!