We had a sunbreak, a very Seattle term for a brief appearance of the sun. The plants adore the light, pouring all the way into the living room at this time of year. May you have the bliss of a winter sunbreak often, and may all your leaves be green.

Houseplants soak up the brief appearance of the winter sun

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I’ve been taking photos out my front window this whole season. Yesterday, just before a big rain started, it looked like this.

My Seattle WA front yard right before a big rain

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Not this year’s roses, but picked exactly at this time of year. Every year I reward myself with an autumn bouquet.

Mixed roses in a glass vase, an October symphony

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I thought our grapevine was Interlaken but the tag is gone. The internet seems to think Interlaken grapes are golden, not red. Well, I don’t know. Our vine struggled for years, very low production, but early this spring we finally cut down a couple of very nearby apple trees that were not producing what we liked and were shading the vine. What a difference! This year for the first time we have some grapes to eat. Yummy!

Red table grapes ripening in early October in Seattle zone 8b

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Soon the Kousa dogwood leaves will begin to turn. See part of the little red fruit on the left? They are edible, if nothing to write home about. But cute!

Kousa dogwood in autumn

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I finally got to see a Corpse Flower in bloom! It was kind of under the radar at Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory. They hadn’t publicized it for fear of crowds in this covid era. They bloom very rarely. This plant is twenty years old and this is its first bloom, so it is kind of a baby, which is why the whole thing is only about three feet tall. Mature flowers can be eight feet! The bloom was at its maximum this morning, and I saw it at around 2pm. I was surprised that the odor was completely done! So it was not stinky at all, a bit of a disappointment, but it was more beautiful than I expected. The outer part was an incredible swirl of loveliness. Here is a little documentary about them with David Attenborough.

Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum

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I hate cutting my roses since I can see the rose bed from the house and they look so lovely out there, blooming for me and any passers-by. But I had to pick them ahead of the big rain.

Garden roses in bouquets, with late lavender and smoke bush leaves

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Yesterday I picked all the open roses ahead of the big rain expected tonight. When I cut roses I always bring a clean bucket with a couple of inches of water into the rosebed. As soon as I cut a stem I put it in the water so it doesn’t dry and seal up. Then right before arranging I cut the stems again while each stem is in a bowl of water in the sink, at a deep slant. It really helps them last longer in the bouquet. I love my roses.

Full blown garden roses, ready for a bouquet

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I did a good job planting my Early Girls (and Sungolds) and they were watered well. So sweet!

Red, ripe, shiny tomatoes and stringbeans harvest

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My friend Cindy has the most incredible flowers. These were in flower boxes on her deck last month.

Purple petunias and other annual flowers on a summertime deck

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We are growing golden raspberries along with the red ones. They are even sweeter and more delicate.

Translucent golden raspberries

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Happy Solstice! Here’s a portrait of sunshine. I planted this ‘Julia Child’ David Austin rosebush three years ago, maybe four. It’s on its own roots. I have never seen such a vigorous, floriferous rose. The Carding Mill I bought at the same time is less than one quarter the size. The only tiny complaint I have is that the flowers lose their exquisite, pale yellow petals very quickly after the roses are fully open.

Only a few years old, this Julia Child rosebush is the star of the bed

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