Technically It's Still Fall

     I know it feels like winter outside and the dominant colors are now red and green, but I am still sorting through my fall photos. Hell, I even have summer vacation photos yet to process. On my trip to Pennsylvania last October, primarily to attend the Perennial Plant Conference, I also got to roam around the Bucks Co. countryside and enjoy a bit of the season. My brother lives in this picturesque part of the the state, and fortunately for us, his guest policies are still fairly liberal. While we were there, the most colorful plant on his property was burning bush (Euonymus alatus). Yes yes, I know this is a very bad plant, but there is no denying how pretty it is, and it is easy to figure why people plant it in the first place.

     Our visits usually include a stop at Trauger's, a large family owned farmstand on the Delaware River. Just about everything they sell is grown or made right on the farm, and I love its diversity, but since our visit was just before Halloween, it was all about the pumpkins.

     Another stop I always like to make is to Linden Hill Gardens, a garden center and design firm built around an old stone farmhouse and barn. This blog has been to Linden Hill before, and you can click here to read more about it. On the day we were there, we had the place to ourselves, and I had to remind myself that in colder parts the country there is an earlier end to the gardening season. That's okay, I took advantage of their perennial sale and picked up a Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Golden Arrow', which was put in a larger pot on the steps until I figure out where to plant it. I know I am certainly not the only one who buys plants without a clue as to where they will go.