The jungle goes dormant

     The daily rains have stopped and I finally have a little breathing room in regards to plant care.  Now I can stand back and think about carving some structure into the front landscaping.

     FINALLY, the cassia is doing what I've been waiting all year for it to do.  How can I manage this thing?  If I don't continually prune it hard all summer, it would absolutely swallow my front yard, yet the constant shaping has reduced it to 1 blooming session a year.  And it's still unruly!

     This cardboard palm was a wee little thing when I planted it years ago.  It's growth is slow but persistent and I like it lots.

     I haven't bothered to look up the life expectancy of my papaya tree since I believe the first frost will end it and the trunk has started to lean (it volunteered in a planter box).  Please, please, please just let one of the fruits ripen!

     I removed some agave pups for repotting...

     ...and became entranced with the beauty of the main plant's inner structure.

Wake up!  Back to work!

     I harvested the first of the care-free calabazas.  My main obstacle to enjoying this abundant, easy to grow squash is that I don't enjoy it.  It's crazy hard to cut although I've developed a system:  I crack it on the cement then slowly work the fault lines with a paring knife.  I was all excited about a recipe for Persian Pumpkin Stew until I started to prepare it and found it was pretty much just chicken broth and pumpkin with the addition of some lemon juice.  Hell, I coulda thought of that! 

     The respite from the yard is welcome as I have some interior chores to attend to but I'll be heading out with the demolition tools in a few weeks (loppers, shovels, etc) to shape the whole thing up.