I used to call this a Christmas cactus but I learned that the leaves with the points are Thanksgiving cactuses (or cacti), and there are also Easter cactuses. But it’s not even Halloween yet!

My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming happily in October

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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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When the petals of your hydrangea flowers get a little like crepe paper, they dry very well. Put in a vase with a half inch of water. By the time the water evaporates, the flowers will be dried enough to last and last.

Colors of mauve, purple and soft blue appear as the blue flowers mature and get ready to dry.

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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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We got maybe a tenth of an inch of rain, more than the entire summer here in Seattle! But a big rain is coming in a couple of days, thank goodness, maybe two inches over a few days. The garden is so thirsty. If you grow roses, pick them and enjoy a bouquet if a big rain is coming. No sense in letting them get ruined and go to waste.

Water droplets on the petals of a half-open Peace rose in my garden

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My backyard a couple of weeks ago in late July. Don’t the pointy iris leaves look good?

Cosmos and speedwell (veronica), with blue hydrangeas in the background

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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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The peony season is brief, but magnificent.

Fragrant, delicate pink peony in the garden

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The Peace rose is among the first to bloom in my rose garden. So pretty after a bit of rain.

The Peace rose is a yellow rose with deep pink edges, and a very vigorous rose bush

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