I Love My Flowers!

My back porch smells so good. I have a beautiful blooming plumeria. I've been trying to grow plumeria ever since I moved to Texas three years ago. My first one died, but I got cuttings from it before that happened. The cuttings died too. My next plumeria struggled along through its first winter and there were times I thought it was dead, but this summer it not only pulled through, it grew huge and it's now full of amazing smelling blooms, yeah!

I had a similar experience with my night blooming jasmine. It got caught in a freeze once last winter, and all the leaves fell off. It had no sign of life until late summer, when it suddenly shot out new leaves and branches, and now it is blooming! If you have never smelled night blooming jasmine, it has an overwhelming heady, intoxicating aroma that can drive a person crazy. It shoots out the scent every 10 minutes or so, and fills the entire yard (and house if the windows are open). I recommend putting it on your list of "must do before I die: smell night blooming jasmine"!

Elusive, Tingly Autumn Magic

I have always loved the not-too-warm, not-too-cold days of autumn, when the air is crisp and has a magical aliveness to it. It feels a little prickly, tingly, and sparkly. I love it when the leaves have turned every hue of orange, red, multi-colored greenish-yellowish-maroon, and they fall and crackle under feet on a leisurely woodsy walk. The heat of summer has subsided and the chill of winter has yet to pounce.

I used to live in northern Iowa where this fantasy fall only lasted a couple of weeks, sometimes less, then turned cold and snowy. Now I live in Texas where autumn just means we're no longer in triple digits Fahrenheit! But for two lovely autumns in Ashland, Oregon, and one perfect Fall in Boulder, Colorado, I experienced the magic of a long-lasting, woodsy-walk filled, delightful, leaf-crackling autumn of my dreams.

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