now it was a still warm mid-october and in the two half barrels that flanked the short entry from lincoln to the building and the four that `` decorated '' the top and foot of both stairwells had a riot of a green , healthy weeds , an equal riot of brown dead bits and some straggly , weak petunia blossoms which had obviously struggled valiantly against the odds but clearly should be put out of their misery and not only because autumn had settled on the rocky mountains .