With the rain of last week it really feels like fall. Have some fun and decorate for fall. Here are some fun and easy ideas:

For your front porch or entryway. . .
Create a fall stage with clusters of corn stalks, chubby pumpkins and colorful containers of chrysanthemums. You could add a bale of hay and a scarecrow for extra drama. All of your supplies are here at the Pumpkin Patch.

On your patio, in your window boxes. . .
Try cyclamen or chrysanthemums teamed with ornamental kale or cabbage in pots or window boxes for something a bit different. Arrange the pots with decorative squash for added texture and color. Need some extra seating this fall on your patio? Try a bale of hay! Or use the bale of hay to create a focal point with containers of fall colors with pumpkins, squash and gourds.

Accessorize your home. . .
Create a table runner with mini pumpkins. Fill a large basket with a treasure of gourds, squash, pumpkins and Indian corn. Use an open weave plant stand and fill it with pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors. Check our Giftware area for other Fall Accents.

Wegman's is a proud sponsor of the South San Francisco and Menlo Park Light the Night Walks. Light the Night is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide annual evening fundraising walk to celebrate and commemorate people whose lives have been touched by cancer. Participants walk along a two-to-three mile route in their neighborhoods, carrying lighted balloons, white for survivors and red for supporters.
You can click on the link below for additional information.
[Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay Area Chapter]

There are about 47 different species of Camellias and over a thousand different varieties. Camellia reticulate (the tree camellia) has huge flowers and can become 45 or more feet tall. Camellia sinensis can become 15 feet tall and wide, and its leaves are processed and dried to become what we know as tea.

The two most well known Camellias species, however, are Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua. Japonica Camellias usually bloom after Christmas and have the most diverse flower structures (rose-form doubles, anemone forms, formal doubles, peony forms, etc.). The flowers are three to four inches in diameter. Japonicas need about half a day of sunlight to bloom well, but will fry if in the sun from eleven to four o’clock.

Camellias sasanquas generally bloom before Christmas, have leaves a bit smaller than japonicas, and have more simple flowers. The flower form is usually a single, with or without protruding stamens, but a few sasanquas have double forms of the flowers. The sasanquas will have three to four times as many flowers as the japonicas. More simple flowers, but lots more of them.

Sasanqua camellias will have a low growth form or a tall form. Be sure to select properly for your landscaping design. Sasanquas can tolerate much more sun than japonicas. You can plant sasanquas where they get all day sun so long as they don’t also get the reflected heat from a light colored building or patio.

Both japonica and sasanqua camellias have the same growth requirements. See our Camellia, Rhododendron and Azalea Care Guide for their cultural needs. If you select carefully, you can have camellias in bloom for almost six months.