On the edge of autumn -- Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Farm...

I only had a few minutes the other day before a meeting of the Cemetery Walk Committee that was to take place in the Caretaker's Cottage at Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Farm in Sebastopol here in Sonoma County, Northern California but, I did manage to snap these few photos of how things are progressing there now that summer has turned (officially) to fall...

The fruit of the Chinese Quince which sit in a row right next to the Cottage was getting large but still showing their green summer color:

The quinces won't be ready to make that delicious jelly from until about January or late December...

In full bloom nearby are the "Crinum Lilies" -- a Burbank hybrid he bred utilizing our native amaryllis, locally called "naked ladies", as one of the parents:

Also, the white hibiscus nearby are blooming prolifically this year:

The last of the crabapples on the only crabapple tree on the Farm are slowly dropping to the ground:


And the fruit of the "sorbus" (aka, "Mountain Ash" or "Jerusalem Pear") trees are beginning to turn:

The "Catalina Cherries", however, are now ripe for the eating -- IF you don't mind a pit three times the size of regular cherries, that is!


The Kentucky Coffee Tree's leaves are dropping fast:

As are the leaves of the catalpa trees:

But, along with the amaryllis in the Cottage Garden, the carnations --


and the Shasta Daisies -- called "Chuck's Delight" (after a longtime volunteer at the Farm)

-- are blooming like crazy.

As well as one of my favorite native wildflowers, the "everlasting pea":

Autumn is one of the best times to see Burbank Farm... The Farm lies completely within the city limits of the town of Sebastopol in Sonoma County, Northern California, and is administered by the Western Sonoma County Historical Society. For more information on the Farm and the Society's other projects, see our website HERE.

'Til next time! From the ole singlewide here in the wild hinterlands --

luv,

jean