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September Blooms
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We’d had a pleasant change in the weather, so I was enjoying the cool morning air in my flannel pj’s, a cup of hot coffee making the morning almost perfect. Butterfly popped in with the morning newspapers and asked, “Have you gotten around to taking pictures of the Michaelmus Daisies up by the pond?” This was Butterfly-speak for “Get up there and take pictures of the Michaelmus Daisies. Now!” I don’t know what’s wrong with her camera, but apparently she thinks mine works better.
I groaned and dragged my lazy butt towards the door, grabbing a sweatshirt on the way. I didn’t even take time to change out of my pajamas. It’s not like anyone was going to see me, other than the same bunch of critters that has seen me many times in some of my least flattering clothing.
“Don’t forget the sedum by the front of my house!” she shouted as I went out the door. I was surprised she didn’t follow me to stupidvise this project. I wouldn’t want to miss any super-important flowers …
It’s easy to photograph a garden in spring, when everything is bursting with life and there is beautiful color everywhere. After the blistering heat of July and August, though, it becomes a little more difficult to find plants that showcase themselves with the approach of fall. But they are there, and they are every bit as beautiful as their spring cousins.
Here are just a few of the September beauties in our gardens:
I have a row of these lantana along a retaining wall; they are in their glory right now.
Butterfly and I love these blue plumbagos. We like this darker blue one more than the very light blue one. This is a touchy plant and sometimes, in our climate, we lose it to a winter freeze.
This is the ladder over the grave of the late, great Carly dog.
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morning glory on the ladder
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Butterfly took a stem of this to the Seniors First kitchen where we pick up the food for our Meals on Wheels deliveries. She always likes to give them a little something to brighten the cafeteria, where seniors who are still mobile can go everyday to get a nutritional low-cost lunch (the same food we deliver to the home-bound).
She watched as the woman she handed it to proceeded to trim off the leaves before placing it in a vase.
“You know, don’t you, that each of those leaves will grow if you stick them in the ground!” Butterfly told her. That’s Butterfly’s problem. She can’t resist propagating every plant and leaf and twig.
I love these Chinese lanterns, but you have to be careful because they can be very invasive. They creep underground and spread everywhere, so only plant them where you have plenty of room for them to spread.
On my drive to town I keep seeing these flowers at a home a few miles away from ours. I kept wondering what they were:
Today as I drove by, a man happened to be walking out of the driveway and heading down the road to get his mail. I, of course, had to stop my car and take advantage of this opportunity.
“Is that your house?” I asked him.
“Yup,” he said.
“What kind of flowers are those red ones?” I asked. “They’re so pretty and I always admire them when I drive by.”
“Darned if I can remember. My wife’s aunt gave them to her years ago,” he said.
“Mind if park and get closer to take some pictures?” I asked.
“Heck no,” he said, “make yourself at home. The wife’s right up there and you can talk to her.”
I turned around and zipped into their yard. I never did scare up “the wife”. I did manage to get closer to the flowers in question, after crossing a wet, boggy section of ground to do it.
The gentleman came walking back down the road from the mailboxes.
“I remember now what they are,” he said. “They’re spider lilies!”
“Do you want one?” he asked.
“Just one?” I laughed.
“Well, do you want a flower?” he said.
“Heck, I don’t just want a flower; I want a start of the plant!” I said. “But now’s not the time to dig them up, when they’re blooming.”
“Well, heck,” he said, “I have no idea when you should dig them up, but whenever you think it is, just stop by and help yourself.”
He then made his way through the soggy ground between us and the lilies and picked a flower for me.
There is no question about it, Butterfly and I need to add this beauty to our collection to make our Septembers even more spectacular.
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