A bold prediction

The Commissar makes a fearless prediction on what the winter holds for the breakaway republic of Blogistan:

a little less Karl Rove, a little more cat-blogging,

Personally, I'm in mourning today because we had our first frost last night, bringing the curtain down on our most successful seaon of tomatos ever. We had nine different varieties ranging from different breeds of cherries to the big monster slicers. They came in early this year: we took our first tomatos to the table on June 18, and the ensuing 143 days featured a sumptuous daily treat. The eggplants didn't come in until late this year---mid September-ish (I didn't mark the date), and we got a very nice crop of bell peppers. The squash and zuccini was a bust, as it was far too wet in July. But 2004 will go down as the year of the tomato in our house, and summer memories will be unleashed each time we pop open a jar of tomato sauce or homeade salsa over the winter months.

Yips from Robbo: Garden blogging, eh? May I? Oh, thank you. As you lot probably know, I'm much more of a flower gardener than a veggie one. Just Sunday, I was noticing brand new buds opening on my black-eyed susans and coneflowers. The daisies were still going strong and so was the buddleia. After last night's frost, I expect that will all wrap up now. I'll probably lose the remaining zinnias out by the front walk as well, although we were planning to put some pansies in there soon anyway.

For me, this was the year that I finally got my flower garden pointed in the right direction. Starting mostly with seeds and with a few transplants, I was able to get in the core of what (I hope) will be a very prolific bed of hearty, heat/drought tolerant perennials. I also let everything go to seed this fall. I'm hoping this self-sowing will produce exponential results for next year. Indeed, I am sufficiently satisfied with the progress of things that I feel I can concentrate on starting a few specimen plants this winter, singletons that can be distributed in various spots against the background core planting.

Gradually, over the next two years, I have to start in on the borders around the sides of the house, all of which have pretty much gone to hell. One side is going to hold a shade bed featuring lots of hostas and the like. The other I plan to use for lupines and delphinium. It gets good morning sun in the summer but stays relatively cool during the worst part of the day. I also have a big patch under the trees out back that I intend to convert to a foxglove bed, they being one of my very favorite flowers.

If the Comissar is correct, expect to see lots more Gratuitous Domestic Posting (TM) - Outdoor Division from your friendly neighborhood Llamas.