Oh, good grief! It’s the Great Pumpkin, and Dallas Arboretum has invited us all to join Linus, Charlie Brown, and the Peanuts gang in the most sincere pumpkin patch to be found. Well, at least the most crowded.

We visited during the Texas-OU weekend, not for the game but because Columbus Day gave us a school holiday and a long weekend. Everywhere we went (the State Fair, the aquarium), Big D was overflowing with fellow sightseers, and the Arboretum’s imaginative annual pumpkin display was no exception. Despite the crowd we had fun, although I couldn’t get photos of all the themed elements as in years past.

Indian corn and baby pumpkins make an autumnal mosaic.

Hey, there’s the kite-eating tree, with piles of pumpkins and gourds spread around it.

People lined up to “play” Schroeder’s piano.

Some of us needed only to pick up a few small pumpkins to start playing — by juggling.

The pumpkin houses are always beautiful.

Bands of pumpkins make colorful siding for the houses.

At an orange-pumpkin house, Lucy dispenses not psychiatric but garden advice. Only 5 cents — what a bargain!

The gardener is in, y’all.

The Peanuts-themed pumpkin patch at Dallas Arboretum runs through October 31. If you’re a member of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, be sure to take your membership card. It’ll get you in for free — and free parking too — through their reciprocal membership program.

__________________________

Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.