Two notes of autumn susurrate through this scene. The dappled sunshine here was full sun a month ago, and those fallen purple petals presage the coming of fall.
The petals came from Tibouchina urvilleana
Nearby the Fuchsia 'Unpronounceable Name that I Have Even Forgotten How to Spell' is blooming. This was a new arrival this year...last year...I don't remember. It came from Strybing, an impulse buy I don't regret whatsoever.
The Madia bloom summer and fall. I don't know what makes them stop exactly. There will be no frost in this garden. I think it's me. I think I make them stop by cutting them down when I get tired of their summer chaos. Winter requires a certain visual purity.
Ugly mold will strike down the last of the dahlias soon enough. They are fading already.
Light rains on Saturday splayed out Salvia uliginosa's wiry stems. A late summer plant for me.
The same recent rains still adorn 'Charlotte' rose. It's been unusually humid for the coast, and the garden is damp.
Sunflowers are slowing down. Fewer and fewer buds emerge from the leaf axils now. Is that from a general lack of water, or is that a fall thing?
Cobaea scandens does not know fall. So long as it yet lives, it blooms all year.
And does Asclepias curassavica know seasonal change? I don't know. (I hope not! It's very pretty up close.)
Also blooming: Tweedia caerulea, Passiflora citrina, Abutilon, Epilobium canum, Arctotis, Foeniculum... what am I forgetting?
ADDED: Up on the roof, recent light rains summoned an inflorescence from the 22-pound bulb, Urginea maritima. Watch this space...
18 comments:
Wow! Your flowers are just great! I wish we didn't have a winter shut down here in NY. It must be great to have flowers all year long. Thanks for the tour!
Gorgeous... and how funny that "your" fall colors are so similar to ours, with the rich purples and then the faded yellows, too.
I often wonder how those plants that don't know fall can keep it going all year, year after year. It seems like they'd just get tired after a while.
I definitely see an autumnal cast to the light in your pictures. Your 100-degree days are long gone, aren't they, Chuck?
Hi there Chuck... just love that first shot! Great blooms and colour from your Sept garden. Happy Bloom Day :-D
Great opening shot for bloom day! I like that salvia, what are it's zones? It may not be hardy here.
Wonderful photos, Chuck! And thanks for the 'word of the day' with the Webster's link - genius!! I've never planted a Cobaea scandens before and will definitely research this one for my zone...it looks just wonderful!
OMG- I LOVE that first picture! Romantic, whimsical, and mysterious!
That dappled sunlight is pure art, Chuck. The petals are just the right touch. Charlotte is going on my list, even though there were not supposed to be any more roses added. The flower form is too wonderful.
Frances
I love the photo of the petals on the garden path....really lovely.
The Tibouchina petals remind me of scraps of silk, like someone was making a silk dress in the garden. It's such a great color. Your new & improved Fuschia is really cool, I've never seen one like it. I doubt I will around here, where they're merely expensive annuals.
I can imagine that the gardener would need to intervene in a climate where there is no frost. Some plants get that rangy look from blooming too long
Nice stuff. The petals susurrate and then a few of those blooms are more like shouters.
Ah, I remember the susurrate signs of changing seasons in the world of evergreen. They are there to be observed by the observant.
Now I am happy when the change is slow and steady, instead of quick and violent.
It's all lovely, especially the asclepias.
I agree with Kim's observation, and it surprises me that I've never picked up on that before (considering how long I've been reading your blog). Nice Bloom Day!
The first and last picture are so interesting. The purple petals in the first look like mosaic tiles. I've never seen anything like that last one!
Urginea maritima.
- I purchased one of these last year as a bare bulb. The folks at Lowes didn't even know what it was called, as this was the last bulb and they had already tossed the display.
So I'm looking for a site to find out how much I should water it, now that it is growing, and I find this. I may have seen this way back then, surely I've been reading for that long.
Do you still have yours?
I don't water Urginea maritima at all. I'm afraid I'll kill it if I do. It just sits in a pot and I cut down the leaves/flower stalk when they die and look ugly. It seems to be doing fine. I've had it for a few years. It just finished flowering. I'm waiting for it to make offsets, which I think it is doing now. It seems to send up two sets of leaves, but only one flower stalk. I was hoping for two flower stalks this year, but I only got one. Maybe next year.
Thanks Chuck!
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