The flowers just keep going....

I immediately identified with Casa Mariposa as she remarked in her latest blog post that she always feels surprised that her gardens continue to bloom this late in the year, even though she planted everything herself and should, of course, know what's in her own gardens. I feel exactly the same way. Even though we've had some chilly nights (and a couple days that were 25 degrees below the average temps for this time of year), my gardens continue to surprise me with many flowers:

My delphiniums have re-bloomed for the first time this year, and although this secondary flush is shorter in height than the June flowers, that means they are easier to stake than the earlier ones (nice for the lazy gardener!).

This combination of aster, mum and annuals at the corner of the border around our house addition is a study in bold colors, with orange, purples, blues and dark reddish-pink. I think I like these colors together.

These low purple asters edging my Front Border are
a lovely mix of light and darker shades.

The cosmos and zinnias are still a riot in the North Border. I want this show to go on forever.

These perennial sunflowers, helianthus 'Lemon Queen,' are just right for the sunny south side of our garage.
This is just three plants -- they like to fill in (and up).

The Yellow Garden is filling in quite nicely for being less than six months old. The yellow butterfly bush (the tallest thing on the right side of the stepping stones) is very close to blooming. I will make sure I get some photos of it when it does, as I've never had luck overwintering them here in Iowa. We'll try again this year.

The four o'clocks are in full swing here in the Peony & Rose bed. I planted these because I read that they are poisonous to Japanese beetles and I did notice that a few weeks ago when I saw the beetles, the roses not surrounded by four o'clocks were attacked, but the roses surrounded by them were mostly left alone. Wow, one of my ideas might actually have worked! I'll test my theory again next year.

A pretty pink 'Clara Curtis' mum in the North Border.

Dahlias and zinnias in the Cutting Garden. These pink dahlias might be the nicest I've ever grown.
I will definitely try to save these over the winter.

I switched out my pansies for yellow mums, marking the change from
summer to autumn. Window boxes are always so cheery, don't you think?

I'm so glad we (might) have at least another month or so to enjoy these late flowers. I still have mums that haven't quite bloomed yet, so I'll have even more to look forward to, and I'll try to post photos of them when they are at their peak autumn glory (there's a particularly impressive orange one that I refer to as being "hu-mum-gous" that never fails to knock me out with its size and color).

I'm just starting classes for my county's Master Gardener program, so I'll be busy this fall, but I hope to learn a lot of interesting things that will not only help me make my own gardens more beautiful, but also allow me to get involved in helping others make their own gardens more beautiful and productive. I'll try to occasionally post about what I'm learning as I go through the program. Wish me luck!

To a late and warm winter -- and thanks for reading! -Beth