Blooming in our garden on Oct 2 2011

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I just returned from a 10 day trip to New Mexico where the drought and fires are as bad as they were in OK.

Residents complained about a summer during which they could not be outside.

They said the summer was unpleasant and hot, their gardens failed, the fruit didn't make and the flowers were dwarf compared to other years.The newspapers said that one apple orchard had not one apple; another was burned out. Plus, the smoke from fires was around for months.

So, when I arrived home today and saw the result of cooler temperatures and rain after our record breaking heat and drought, I felt so much better.

Late this afternoon I went out and took a few photos of what is flowering in our yard, ate a few figs right off the plant, and filled the bird baths.
This isn't everything that is blooming but hopefully it will raise your spirits, too, to see that some lovely things survived to provide pollen for moths, butterflies and skippers, in spite of the worst Mother Nature has ever handed out in one summer.
 

The upside of going through the worst summer on record? Next gardening season has to be better.

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