Almost the Last Hurrah

Fall is here, in spite of the warm temperatures of the last few days.  My little mailbox garden is still going strong, though looking a little the worse for wear these days.  I don't know how many minutes I spent pulling grass from between the plants this summer, but it seems that for every one I pulled, two more sprouted up.

But, the dahlias are still as beautiful as ever.  I've never pulled the plants in the fall and replanted the bulbs the next year, but the flowers this year are so beautiful, that I just might try it.

The two little Bidens plants I bought grew to enormous size.  It's a good, sturdy plant, with tons of bright, cheerful flowers.  A repeat purchase, for sure.

Another plant that I really like, at least for the Northern climates, where it doesn't run wild, is Lantana.  This was the first plant that flowered in my garden this year, and it is still going strong.

And, then, there is the old, standby, salvia.  It's a perennial, but, unlike many, it has a protracted blooming season.  Once the first bloom is over, you cut it back to the ground and it grows up again, producing blooms that last the rest of the summer, and into Fall.

I left a couple of hydrangea blooms on the bush, after they started to turn green.  Now, they are beautiful in an entirely different way, with their green and rose colors.

Except, that is, for this one late starter, now in full Summer glory, well into fall.

But, the stars of the garden are the Fall flowers.  My gardens are kind of sparse, when it comes to these.  I'll have to try and fix that next year.  But, the Mums are going strong, and will be in full bloom in a few days.  In an earlier post, I mentioned that I lacked the intestinal fortitude to cut mine back as much as I should, and, as a result, they are kind of scraggly.

The individual blooms are still perfection, however.

The Tatarian Asters have just started to bloom.  This is one of my favorite Fall flowers.  I cut it back in July, and, still, it gets majestically tall.  It will bloom until the first hard frost.  I'll post another picture of it, when it is in full bloom.

For such a sturdy plant, its flowers are dainty and delicate -- a glorious lavender color, with a golden center.

And, at the edges of my lawn, two wild beauties grow.  Goldenrod, beautiful and plentiful.  There are so many different varieties that I haven't even attempted to figure out which one this is.

And, last, that poisonous beauty, White Snakeroot.  This is the plant that used to cause Milk Fever.  The cows would eat it, it would poison their milk and people who drank the milk would sicken and even die.  Abraham Lincoln lost his Mother to Milk Fever.

Apparently, it doesn't bother that little bug in the first picture.

Soon, the leaves will turn, and the flowers will fade, hiding until Spring, when the whole cycle begins again.