Apples to Zinnias

Garden Club's event for August was billed as an Apples to Zinnias on Four Acres extravaganza. The apples were awesome and the pears were perfect, including this Asian pear:

My nostalgia for all things fall was heightened by the sight of the beautiful fruit clusters--soon it will be the season of apple picking, pumpkins, apple cider donuts and maybe a horseback ride or color tour through brilliant autumn foliage. I was already in the mood, having just browsed my first issue of Midwest Living (so inexpensive that I could not resist one more magazine subscription). It featured short stories of favorite fall excursions, written by gals, traveling with their pals, accompanied by professionals taking photos. Included was a reference to returning home to make Dutch Apple Pie from an old cookbook that is in almost every Dutch home in West Michigan.

The gardens we visited, developed between groups of trees and connected by woodsy pathways, included, as billed, a little bit of everything, even some darling brussel sprouts. I almost missed the Zinnias on the former chicken farm, now hidden in a suburban location. They were obscured by the beauty of the extensive plots of (hundreds) dahlias--at least 30 named varieties according to the retired super-gardener who takes care of all this without help. The large dahlia blooms definitely were the stars of this garden, and we all took home one beautiful bloom. A single bloom sells for up to two dollars at the local farmer's market.

Yes, men came too, this one not smelling the flowers, but rather, investigating the engineering--a single rod holding the clay pots together.