I took a much needed vacation day from the day job today to rest up after my sale.  I told Mr. Q that my plan was to just do whatever I felt like.  And apparently what I felt like doing was strolling around the garden taking photos to share with you guys.

Fall is such a lovely time in the garden.  Even though things are starting to die back (we’ve had two nights of temps right around freezing this week), the fall colors are just so vibrant.  My Tiger Eye sumac is looking particularly colorful these days.

I went a little ‘old school’ this year on my window boxes.  I found large-ish potted mums at Cub Foods (a local grocery store chain) for $3.33 each.  I wanted to use some in my ‘hello fall’ tool boxes …

and they were so affordable that I went a little crazy and purchased a dozen of them.

So all of my planters got some mums for fall.

With the addition of a little ornamental kale, some cut hydrangea flowers …

and maybe a ‘hello fall’ plate, they look pretty fab for $3.33.

In some cases I left a few of my summer annuals behind because I couldn’t bear to pull them out just yet.

The front window box got its share of mums also.  I’m realizing now that the red and white combo almost looks a little more Christmas-y rather than fall-like.  Lots of the annuals in the front window box are still going strong despite the cold weather including the Jester’s Crown ferns, the variegated ivy and the euphorbia.

The spot where I now have the mums was filled with a gorgeous pink and white caladium for the summer, but caladium can’t handle even the slightest cold weather.  As soon as the temps went below about 50 they started drooping and I had to pull them out.

The baby tears that I planted in this little teacup are still doing well though, I may have to bring this in for the winter because it just looks so sweet.

I bought that little fairy mailbox at a cute little shop in the Linden Hills neighborhood.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a few fall colors here today.  Usually the fall colors peak right about now here in the Twin Cities, but I feel like they aren’t quite there yet today.  Any day now though.

This weekend I’ll be working on a lovely sideboard and maybe a few other small projects, so be sure to check back next week.