Another Solar update, 18-October.

Old Sol starts making some serious jumps and as a result, the days get shorter. Two months to the Solstice when he starts his journey back to the North.

19-October, The Final Gardenista for 2013

The first mild frost rolled through sometime around the 5th of October. As with all light ones, only certain things were killed, and in funny places. You sort of have to visualize the cold air like thin streams winding their way through the garden, taking a plant here and there. Sometimes only a half a plant gets blackened, others times it's laid waste. Our huge Basil plants were completely destroyed while the Cosmos were largely untouched. The last of the Eggplant fruit was long gone, but the plants themselves carried on. Tomatoes were a mixed bag with parts of most plants frosted but no fruit turned to mush. We picked the last of the them and put them in a dark room between layers of newspaper knowing that at least some will ripen.

Needless to say, what remains is a far cry from what we had in July and August.

We still had a half-dozen hummingbirds when we left for the beach on the 30th of September so I put 4 fresh feeders out on the day we departed. On return they were most empty, and I saw one bird on the morning of the 13th but that was it. He finally moved on or succumbed to the cold.

The Maximilian Sunflowers were all gone by the beginning of this month and so we cut them down this week.

The Morning Glories out back were killed by the 25° temperature a few days ago, but those near the house continue, blooming daily. September and October really seem to be their peak months. Another learning for the year.

All that remains now is a scrappy little garden, planted entirely by our resident squirrel whom we trapped and transplanted last month. A few Sunflowers popping up around the garbage can. A fitting end to a good season.