Well, the golden waves of grain are now golden piles of corn being poured from the harvesters into the bins and off to the silos. Huge trucks with arched covers, telltale spills of grain on the road, and bare fields of chaff- not yet plowed, are September’s story. The dried cornstalks of fields yet unharvested wait their turn, but soon all will be shorn clean until next year. The soybean fields will be next, but presently they are still greeny gold.
Everywhere the colors of early fall are apparent, and in my garden it is the purple and pink of asters. When I moved here and started the garden I bought named varieties, but since then all the asters are self-seeded later generations. They grow like weeds and I am constantly pulling them out, but they are gorgeous in their time, so I like to keep parts of the garden given over to their rangy, but floriferous selves. Golden rods are blooming now, but the autumn clematis, for me, is over. It turns to clouds of diaphanous seed heads, with a few straggling blooms to attract butterflies that remain. it is time for berries to make their appearance and the glowing orange of the pyracantha holds forth on the house wall. Not quite as profuse as some years, because I took the pruners to it this spring…. and I see so much new growth that must be taken in hand again! I like to keep it trained since it is close to the house and surrounds a window.
Pyracantha has wicked, wicked thorns. You need to have your wits about you when pruning it, and don’t leave any of the trimmings laying around- but the end result is always worth it. Pretty creamy white blooms in spring and the persistant bright berries to brighten winter days, against glossy green foliage makes it an all season shrub or espalier.
It is the long flowering perennials that amaze me. Plumbago started blooming long ago and still shines with its bright blue flowers, going strong. They are sort of the color of this years ‘Emmy’ fashions- a bright greenish blue. Coreopsis verticillata is called “cut and come again” for a reason- a very long bloomer in the garden, its golden daisies are cheerful.
It is very dry here again, but the days have been beautiful. I love the clear blue skies and clean feeling to the air. Lovely!
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