Thank you so much for that beautiful glimpse into your autumn journal! I never knew that Hans Christian Andersen had written such a meaningful quote.

Your photos are great, and I never knew about Roselle, but I have seen it growing in the wild. If those tomatoes don't ripen before frost just pick them, wrap in newspaper and store in the pantry.

And I had several plants leaves disappear overnight also. I saw the guilty party though and killed them on my Lime tree after they had decimated most of its leaves. Looked like a Pack Saddle Caterpillar, larva of a Slug Moth. They are a native to Mexico, but they have migrated apparently, because I have never had that happen in my garden before this year. They started out on the Cannas and ate a good mess there before going to the Lime tree.

Thank you, slowcala, for the compliments and tips about the tomatoes. Yesterday, after writing this, I noticed a couple of them starting to show signs of color.

Wow, that's too bad about your leaves disappearing overnight from a foreign pest! It does happen here, usually to the wild cherry trees in the spring, eaten by the tent caterpillars!! Yuck! I look out for their egg cases on the plum trees because they will devour those too! But it's never happened to the Morning Cloud tree before! I didn't find any signs of the pest that did it and wonder if some birds may have picked them off... nature can work itself out like that when it's native pests we're dealing with. But when they come from somewhere else, that's when it can be a huge problem!

Thanks again.