Autumn Splendor at the Dallas Arboretum

Fall is my favorite time of year! Every time I think of fall I break out in song in my head with Frank Sinatra singing along with big orchestra music "Love is a many splendored thing...love is nature's way of giving..."  and I feel like tap dancing or twirling. There's something about the cooling of the air and the vibrant colors of the red, orange, and yellow flowers and leaves that makes me feel refreshed and ready to accept hordes of people into my home for the holidays. Not really, but it helps.

We visited the Dallas Arboretum last Halloween. This was my first visit to the Arboretum even though I've had free entry tickets to this place for more than 18 years. Because my tickets didn't have an expiration date they still accepted them.  I received the tickets from Dale Groom "The Plant Bloom" whom I worked with at a local talk radio station. He'd probably be disappointed if he knew it took me 18 years to get to the Arboretum. But I digress.

In the fall the Arboretum sets up a Pumpkin Patch Village with houses made out of pumpkins. The pumpkin houses are inspired by storybooks that have a pumpkin in the story such as Cinderella and Sleepy Hollow. There are thousands of pumpkins everywhere. I never knew there were so many different types of pumpkins. It is really amazing. I would love to come back during Christmas time to see how the Arboretum displays the flowers and plants on the 66 acres of beautiful landscaping.

This is my favorite pic with the crepe myrtles. It makes me think of Lothlorien in Lord of the Rings.

Apple Gourds

See the storybook on the left?

This is Cinderella's house.

Afterwards we went to eat dinner at PF Changs. Our waiter looked similar to Orlando Bloom 

but I don't have a pic of him.

Random: These are some guys we met at the mall dressed for Halloween.