The biggest gardening success this year was this volunteer mallow, which jumped out of its pot and took root in the tree pit next to it. As of Oct 31, it still had blooms on it. I’ll be collecting these seeds and trying them in other areas.
That vinca was a champ, too. Nice bright white and bloomed steadily for months.
Here was a mystery: one day I went out and discovered that one area of the side yard was all torn up, in a mad pattern, as if there had been some sort of frenzy. These didn’t seem to be paw marks — they were indented at an angle, and the turf was actually torn up, exposing the dirt. My best guess is that a deer encountered the yellowjackets nesting nearby.
Morning sun on my neighbor’s roof peak, with a little bird peeping out of the chimney. In the distance, the Strip and the North Side.
A deer resting in a neighboring yard. She stayed there for a few hours, enjoying a quiet safe spot. I’ve never seen a deer dozing before.
Down in the valley below, (the light areas beyond the trees) is a post-industrial corridor, with railroad tracks, roads, bridges, and bustle. There’s enough green space along here that deer can survive in the middle of the city; we see them regularly. And notice that in this photo, taken in late October, the leaves are still almost completely green.