Here it is the end of October, and so many of the plants in my garden look the best they have all summer. The African blue basil is huge and covered in bees, especially now that we have had a couple of days of sunshine (hallelujah for that). Red pentas and purple cuphea are big and beautiful. The orange hibiscus and even the bougainvillea are behaving more like the middle of summer than the waning days of fall.

However, it is a small space and I need to plant some more cool season veggies and winter color. It is such a gut wrenching decision. How can I justify tearing out these plants and send them to the compost pile? This is not easy – I cannot let go of summer and its plants. There are still tomato plants and they are still producing a few fruit. I seeded greens all around the base of them, so that when I finally do yank them there will be something growing. That is not doable in other spots. So I have finally taken deep breaths and started the painful process of saying good-bye to my summer plants…