Autumn has finally arrived

Of course, I always a deny the fall until it’s almost over, since we have some plants that persist into November and December. With the first freeze this past week, it’s basically winter and soon spring will be here! First snow, too, which was unusually on a Saturday instead of me having to drive through it, but it wasn’t heavy or sticking to the roads much anyway. It did stay around the yard all week, though, since it was freezing.

Planted some new seeds (in pots), mostly from eastern Washington . Synthyris/kitten tails, large flowered clover/trifoliate macrocephalum, Penstemon Gainderi, Penstemon deustus (white flowered), paintbrushes/Castilleja Elmeri and Miniata, Phlox Viscida, Balsamroot Serrata and Trollius Albiflora. Also planted in pots some white and small purple camas, bear grass seeds, and Purple avens (we have a few but not enough and we have too many of the large leaved yellow variety).

Many other plant seeds sewn in little areas (Dave calls them “clumps”) all over the yard. I had almost 50 packets of seeds of various types and quantities to sow in total. I try to mark them with white pumice so I don’t end up digging them out accidentally (I’ve seen some plants grow up together due to that if I’m lucky, who knows how many were lost, though). I’m still reluctant to put valuable plants, bulbs or seeds in areas that have been ravaged by moles in the past, even though the moles were much less active the last few years, or to plant them around aggressive plants like salal. So, I still end up putting most of these in certain places, but I finally have so many seeds of some types that I can be liberal. Too many to name, but lots of bulbs and plants that are underrepresented .

Below is not the snow we got last week, that was nothing by comparison. This is a winter wonderland from a couple of years back:

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