I'm Home... and look what I found!

The hibiscus had triple-stamen... all the better to share the nectar, I guess!

The volunteer impatien (who knows how it got into the pot) was blooming. If you look closely, as I draw it aside, you can see that I was really trying to start a few Christmas cactus sections that had been, much earlier this summer, knocked off the parent plant by a... squirrel?

Here are my two Christmas cactuses. Actually, one blooms at Christmas, while the other blooms around Thanksgiving. The close-up shows that the plants weren't hurt with the early pruning.

In fact, this branch has FIVE starts on it!

This Chocolate Drop coleus loved its setting; it took over! The Pineapple coleus is very, very pretty, but I especially liked the Rose Splash geranium. It became crowded by the coleus, so the plant didn't remain as sturdy as I'd have liked. But the blossom was a "bright spot!" You might see some very light leaves at the bottom and right side of the pot (what pot?). This was 'Lemon Licorice' Helichrysum petiolare. I'm quoting from the tag. At any rate, it may have done better with less crowding, but it gave a nice contrast.

The wandering jew nearly hides the frog pot below. An earlier photo showed just a few starts.

The temperatures dipped some last night. It didn't freeze, but the moss rose looked pretty peaked this morning. Perhaps it's time to take the pots indoors to the screened porch.

And it's time to begin raking leaves. The good thing is that, due to the fact that 1/2 of the trees lose their leaves in the fall, the winter is "less shady." ;-)