Still Blooming in September...

The weather is cooling down and it's been comfortable, in the 60's and 70's, lately. A few days we've even woken up to 45 degrees here in northern VA. The plants are much happier than they were this summer, and I haven't added any additional water in weeks. It has rained on and off, which is just what my garden needed to lose that 'crispy' look.

Aster novae angliae (New England Aster) -- with a friendly fly visitor

Since I didn't get around to posting a 'Bloom-day' post on the 15th, I thought I would do it now because it helps me to keep a record of what's happening in my garden from year to year.  I don't have much to write about--so you can just scroll down and view the photos.

Clockwise, from top L: Rudbeckia hirta (the last Black-Eyed Susan bloom), Gaura, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides,
Phlox paniculata 'Andre', Echinacea purpurea 'Pink Double Delight', Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles',
and center: Perovskia (Russian Sage) with Verbena bonariensis (Purpletop Verbane)

Liriope muscari 'variegata' (Variegated Liriope)

Clockwise, from top L: Coreopsis 'Limerick Ruby' (overwintered well here in zone 7-A), Caryopteris (Blue Mist Shrub), Agastache cana 'purple pygmy' (Hummingbird Mint), Rudbeckia laciniata (Tall Yellow Coneflower),
Coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset', and center: Veronica spicata 'icicle' (Spike Speedwell) -- with friend

Agastache 'Purple Pygmy' with a lighter, orangy-yellow Agastache variety that I planted last year,
which I seem to have forgotten the name of.

Carpet Rose (red and pink varieties) and hips from Rosa rugosa 

Buddleia davidii 'Adonis Blue' (L) & a lighter blue variety -- with a spider friend

Clockwise, from top:  Chelone (Pink Turtlehead), Sedum 'Autumn Joy',
Salvia greggii 'Flame', Salvia greggii 'Wild Thing', Commonelina communis (Common Dayflower -
a 'weed' to some), and center: Kalimeris pinnatafida (Japanese Aster)

(Another photo/collage of Turtlehead with Bluebeard...makes me want to dig them up and plant them closer together!):

In various areas around the front, side and back yards, I have annuals both in the ground, and in pots:

Impatiens

Zinnia

Clockwise, from top L:  Salvia (a variety I planted from seed several years ago, reappears every year in the pot);
Lantana camara (Lantana 'Ham & Eggs' -- NOT a perennial here in zone 7a); Heliotrope; Geranium;
False Heather; Bacoba 'Giant Snowflake'; and center: Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'

There are a few plants I haven't featured (such as Agastache 'Blue Fortune') but that's because it is looking scraggly now so I didn't bother to include it. This time last year, it looked quite a lot better and was loaded with butterflies. Unfortunately, the butterflies were far and few between this year. I do have photos of a few, however, which I'll include in a later post.

For more mid-September blooms, visit Carol's May Dreams Gardens, where gardeners around the world feature what is currently blooming in their gardens.

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.