It's Still Autumn in Austin

Even though the Brugmansia went from still-in-bloom last Thursday afternoon

To crisped and frostbitten by Monday afternoon

Even though the Blue Butterfly Flower Clerodendrum is also crispy brown today

Even though the Loquat is no longer blooming and the hoped-for fruit may have been hit with cold and we'll have another year of no loquat fruit
Even though we're now using the big comforter instead of the light blankets, and the berries on the Burford Holly are a wintery-Christmasy red .

Even though the cannas that backed up the Julia Child rose are no longer green as in this photo from last Thursday

...it still feels like autumn to me.
After all, that Julia Child rose is still blooming and holding onto her foliage (in answer to Jean, the bloom is good, but she does get blackspot and has fewer leaves than she should)

After all, the temperatures are in the sixties and the leaves are falling and swirling around the patio, needing to be swept so we can use the barbecue,

After all, it took a long time to rake and sweep this pile, go over it with the mulching mower and empty the bag over and over into the wire leaf enclosure

After all, there seems to be an endless supply of unfallen leaves that will need raking - even if the projected cold front arrives
After all, the pomegranate tree is still glowing golden in the Secret Garden

After all, the pink rose near the Brugmansia is still blooming

And a rather dimwitted Monarch thought there was still time to raise a new generation
(Renee - as you wrote in your Statesman blog, this is not a good idea, is it!)

Oops - someone should get out the ladder and cut those pods of moonflower vine seeds to save for next spring

But the ladder is already in the living room, surrounded by ornaments and decorations boxes, placed next to the Christmas tree so I can reach the top branches.

Being organized for Christmas gets complicated where December acts like autumn.