Chilly (almost) fall mornings have been so misty dewy lately that I get soaked to my shins just walking across the lawn. Can’t beat the quality of the light though and my morning ramble is worth every wet footed minute of the day!

As a little teaser for those who can make it to Fall Gardener’s Day tomorrow and for those who can’t, here are a few tastes of the property from my walk this morning.

Per Bright’s request, a full body shot of the pitcher plants with my pruners in for scale (Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Tarnok’, S. ‘Scarlett Belle’, and S. purpurea)

A seed pod forming on Asclepias physocarpa ‘Oscar’ (a.k.a. hairy balls – go figure).

An Aeonium in one of the new Display Garden beds – even though this isn’t at its most beautiful (it is a knockout during the winter in the greenhouse), it’s plenty gorgeous!

Near the Aeonium the stinky coleus (Coleus canina ‘Sumcol’) is budded up. This is a “touch me” plant that will leave you with a lingering eau d’ skunk. (pepe le pew! – but of course it’s one of my favorites)

I’m hoping some of my fellow bloggers and blog readers will introduce themselves to me tomorrow. On Wednesday I had the great pleasure of meeting Caroline Brown author of Earth Friendly Gardening. I’ve been enjoying her blog since before I started writing this one and I can’t wait to read what she has to say about her visit! (No pressure, Caroline!)

See some of you tomorrow and the rest of you on Monday! Happy (almost) Fall!

Yesterday’s fog cloud lifted just in time. (I suspect helpful fairies.) Long shadows, golden brights and dulcet tunes on guitar and mandolin were the stage set, backdrop and surround sound for a gorgeous evening Soiree in the Display Garden – the final one for this season (stay tuned for next year’s Soiree listings). Italian wines and cheeses were a perfect complement for a positively Tuscan light (it’s what I imagine anyhow…) and an exhuberantly abundant fall garden.

Gail and Julie and I answered questions about the gardens but the buzz on everyone’s lips was the Fairy Houses. It was the best thing to see otherwise elegant and sophisticated grown-ups go in search of a little playful magic! (Fairies are everywhere!)

In Soiree preparation we moved new combinations into the Idea Beds (placing a beautiful potted plant in a daylily hole can make the whole garden seem new again), tidied Gus-Gus’ pond, raked paths and deadheaded with the Deadheads and fine tuned with the Rockettes. Good luck follows Katherine, one of the Deadheads, who was paid the highest compliment from one of the garden’s sprites! (Magic is all around us!)

The feeling of last night lingered in the garden this morning and it looks for all the (enchanted) world like the conversations continue.

Fairies need decent affordable housing too! Yesterday a group of dedicated and skilled laborers built a new fairy community on a Blithewold subdivision. The houses were constructed of green material and fit beautifully into the landscape – this was a very environmentally conscious endeavor! I took a walk down this morning to see how the fairies were settling in but oaf that I am, I must have frightened them because the place was fairyly deserted. I didn’t think they’d mind though if I took a little look around…

Looks like I disturbed breakfast… Sorry!

Clap your hands if you believe! (and don’t you all just want to go right out and build a new house for your resident fairy?!)

To see more pictures of Fairy Magic in the Garden and the building crew at the constuction site click here!  (photos of the kids with their houses by Gail Read)