In just two days, September will be here. It always marked the true end of summer to me, even though the days were often still hot, the light had already begun to shift and the days were getting ever so slightly shorter. As a kid, I hated it. As an adult, I often think about how I have missed most of summer and how did that happen??
When I was a kid, summer lasted forever, now it seems like it is two weeks long. How did I miss vacation time? And not having a pool to laze in and swim in, that is the thing I most miss about living in Florida. I would get up in the early morning, make coffee and slip out to the pool and swim laps - fast and slow, and sip my coffee while everyone slept.
This summer I saw the daylilies and then the rain and weeds came. I sprained my ankle, and walking on the uneven ground of my gardens to do weeding was out...so the weeds have won this year.
I do love the change in the greens at this time of the year. The bright spring greens are wonderful, but the complexity of the greens as they age and darken is something I enjoy watching. As I walk my dogs each morning, I have been seeing lots of purple flowers. Why so many purple flowers in fall?
Thistle
Joe Pye Weed and Ironweed
Flax on the roadside
Here's one of my hydrangeas that has been incredible this year. It is at the end of its season.
And I always love the Queen Anne's Lace (Not purple!!)
What kinds of flowers and foliage are you seeing where you are right now??
We'll be doing a drawing (random number generator) of one winner if you make a comment by the end of August!! The prize will be one skein of Yummy 2-ply Sock and we'll include a pattern of Martina Behm's Miss Winkle.
198 comments
The chicory , a weed, blooms in the heat of August. I love the shades of blue of the blossoms along the country roads. My husband remembers seeing chicory as a young boy playing out in the sand pile, know that when it blossoms summer will soon be over.
Golden rods… my fav. And bullrushes.
My garden is also a mess — the lawn guys put grass clippings into the flower beds when the grass had gone to seed! UGH. I’m looking for the Autumn Joy Sedum to bloom by my back door - that’s always a sign of the season’s changing. My mums apparently did not survie the winter, and will need to be replaced :(. I’m noticing that the sumac along the roadside on the way to and from work are turning gold and red — seems early for that, but time moves on!
Bright pink. I have those Hydrangeas,too.
Well, everything that blooms in the summer is yellow, seems like!
I have an orange blooming flower in one of my flower beds that comes back each late summer. I have ever found the name of it, but it’s so pretty and stands about 3 feet. The butterflies love it so it’s busy with them each day. Yesterday ,I noticed a goldfinch on the flower and I guessed it was eating the seeds which do resemble a longer thistle seed! Love it!
Flower color may have something to do with the pollinators that are out and about at this time of year. Butterflies especially love purple. I love how each part of the summer seems to have a dominant color- whites and pinks come first as the ground thaws (where I live, anyway), and fall always wraps up with yellows and oranges. Gorgeous. One of the reasons I am such a Miss Babs fangirl is because of the lush, nature-inspired colors you produce. I was telling my daughter just yesterday that color is maybe the biggest reason why I love spinning and knitting. :)
So pretty! And you’re right, the deeper greens later in the year are so beautiful! :)
I never noticed how much purple there is in fall. I just walked my neighborhood and paid closer attention. I have no idea what most of them are but they really are lovely
I was so pleased to find four bud on my night blooming cereus yesterday! And the fig on my fig tree are finally ripening – very late because of all the rain we have had this summer. My lotus are still blooming; the lantana are feeding the hummingbirds and my daisies are still blooming. I am not quite ready for fall because the summer was so rainy and un-sunny that it didn’t feel like summer . . . But it isn’t going to wait for me, now is it?