Happy Equinox, First Scarf Day, First Snow

The Minnesota State Fair is over and Fall has arrived in Minnesota. Fall flowers are blooming, mums are appearing in our garden to fill in bare spots, it’s dark when I make my morning coffee and today I waited until it warmed up (to 44° F) mid-afternoon before mowing the grass.

The First Scarves Day!

A few weeks ago (21 Sep) was the first scarf day of this coming winter. When I left on my bicycle for my morning cappuccino it was about 50°F which is cool enough that a scarf makes a comfortable difference. If you live in Minnesota you become quite accustomed to wearing scarves and you keep them handy all year since many summers we’ll have nights cool enough for them. Keeping one in your car is not a bad idea either. I also have a bad habit of seeing scarves I like on our travels and bringing an extra or two home so I’ve acquired quite a collection.

These Salvia are a sure sign of fall as they don’t bloom until late late summer.

Some plants don’t particularly appreciate colder fall nights.

Winterberry provide color and winter food for birds.

I like the red color that a lot of our Hydrangea turn in fall.

These Hearty Roses have hung on tenaciously through our cooler fall weather.

Equinox

Fall Equinox was on 23 Sep. The sun was sort of directly over the equator and everyone from the Arctic to Antarctic and Minnesota to Alabama had the exact same 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. Our days have gotten a lot shorter since mid summer and they’ll get much shorter still.

One of our first chores in the fall is clearing dead and dying plants to plant mums and other fall hearty foliage.

 The Last Fall

If all goes well our new house will be complete in about a year from now so this will likely be our 30th and last fall in this house. We’ll miss our house, neighborhood and neighbors.