A Magic Paintbrush. . . . . . . .

Sometime, during the chilly, rainy night, someone

 tiptoed through the garden with an artist's palette

 and a paintbrush.

At last we've had some rain. 

Early morning light showers later turned into a steady

 rain yesterday. 

This morning, when the sun came up, I puttered about storing a

 few items in the potting shed for Winter months, taking out the

 garbage, (someone has to do it!), and of course capturing a

 few garden shots to share the radiant colors, heartbreakingly

 beautiful after the rain.

We actually raked a ton of leaves on Saturday, now 

there are tons more! They will have to stay until we 

return after the holidays . . . . . too wet and too little

 time to work in the garden now.

Planning and planting for next year. . . . . . . . . .

Yesterday I planted 100 tulip bulbs in several large decorative pots.

I bought just pink and purple - Queen of the Night, Pink Diamond,

Fancy Frills and Curly Sue, all of which I hope bloom in April

because we'll be away from home in May!

I only plant tulips in pots - the hot humid Summers here mean they 

are basically annuals, rarely returning a second year. Trying to dig 

in hard garden beds is another of those chores I now have to pass on.

Of course these aren't tulips. 

I also bought pansies to plant on top of the bulbs.

 They will bloom until late Winter when the temperature drops really low

and then get their second wind come Spring, blooming profusely until that 

often intense heat arrives here in the south in early Summer.

Note the leaves are falling now - and we've decided to let them pile up for a while. 

Usually we are out there raking constantly, almost daily, this year we don't need that

 much exercise. As long as the back deck is swept/blown, and we can use it without

 breaking our necks from rolling around on the zillion acorns falling this year, all

major raking is on hold for a couple of weeks.

I love pansies and violas, they have sweet 'faces' and always make me happy. 

Bright and beautiful, they bring a splash of color wherever they are planted. . . . . 
. . . . . . . . and they are a whole lot sweeter to talk about than politics.
My blog is not going there!