In bloom...

I've been posting pictures all summer of flowers that were blooming in our garden, but I never thought I would be adding more as we head into November (which incidentally, is my 2nd least favorite month and also happens to be my birthday month. Blah). But anyways, I was outside this morning re-filling the birdbath for the robins who have been visiting our garden this week. They are traveling in flocks, as they tend to do when they're coming or going in spring and fall, and they love soaking in the bath. They're so large, though, that all it takes is for a few bathers to splash out all the water, and then I'm back out there with the hose--because heaven forbid I leave them high and dry. As I was filling it up, I looked down and noticed a splash of bright blue; my campanula was blooming again! Seeing that made me really look around (I've been so caught up in a wash of negativity this week, I haven't been really *seeing* my garden and that just won't do) and I noticed that much, much more was also still plugging away, putting forth blossoms. I even said a how-do-you-do to a plethora of honeybees and a monarch butterfly or two which were sipping on the nectar from the zinnias (best $1.75 I ever spent). Not sure what to make of this strange climate shift (?) but I must say I am enjoying that that I can still fuss in my garden this late in the season. So here's what's blooming...and by the way, I did not include your "typical" fall flowers: mums, sedums, asters, ornamental grasses, which are looking ravishing right now, of course.

Our begonias still in full stride

This little Gruss an Aachen rose looks like porcelain

Planted these windowbox annuals in May and they're still going strong

The obligatory petunia (there's a reason why they're so popular)

Lovely campanula graces the foot of the birdbath

Bachelor Buttons in a gorgeous cornflower blue

Sweet 100 tomatoes just won't quit

The MVP of the rose garden: Knock Out

Pinata frames the doorway (and also attacks the mailman)

Pretty little Tickseed, which the goldfinches adore

Trailing Lobelia poking out from beneath a dahlia

Pentas--a splash of color from a summer annual

Pentstemmon (My daughter used to call these and the similar Foxglove "bee houses")

Rose Campion (Sedum in the foreground)

And of course our Evergreen Maple hasn't put on it's Autumn attire yet, although the other deciduous trees in our neighborhood are already dressed for the ball.

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