balloon flower in the fall

It's too bad that balloon flower (Platycodon) doesn't flower in the fall when the Balloon Fiesta is on. Those flowers would match what is in the sky here. But the fall foliage color of balloon flower is equally as impressive as the flowers. I'd forgotten about that until I stepped into my side yard today, to a row of glowing yellow.

moonset

Moonset at TMHG. Huh. Moonset. Why doesn't anyone use that term? We have sunrise and sunset. People use moonrise. No one says moonset. Well, here you go, that time in the early morning, just as the sun was rising on a full moon, looking to the west, the moonset. Here, above Mt. Taylor.

beans

My first harvest of Romano beans. This was a risky planting, since there was barely enough time for the harvest date of 58 days. Today is day 42, and first frost is supposed to be in about 2-3 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

leaves, fungi, water

We spent the last week in Wisconsin at the annual family gathering. Quite the plant shock, as it always is. When we arrived, the leaves were just starting to change color, but as the week progressed, the colors became much more intense despite the rainy weather.

 

After the rain, the fungi were popping out of the ground - not something we see in Albuquerque! I had forgotten how fragile mushrooms are, chitinous cell walls and everything. 

 

This being the land of lakes, the water everywhere was a bit of a culture shock. Wow, water everywhere. The weirdest thing is that my mind kept looking for characteristics of the ocean. There were the seagulls after all, but where were the tidal pools, anemones, the salty tang in the air? No, the Green Bay is freshwater. It just seemed wrong.

The fall asters are a different hue than the New Mexican purple asters.

Barns here are so quaint.

An obligatory visit to Lambeau Field yielded a surprise.

Swiss Chard in the ornamental plantings? Sure, they are colorful and attractive, but not very...football. I wonder if the fans notice? Maybe they should have only planted the yellow/green ones, to keep with Packer colors.