Autumn Flowers Gardening

The weather here has been delightful. It has been 65 to 79 degrees here for most of the past week. There was even a spritz of rain one day, but it just added to the current superior gardening weather.We again put the kitchen aside to enjoy this super time of year here on the shore.

 After a crushingly disappointing Spring and Summer garden, my Autumn garden is fabulous. Towards the beginning of September we had a bevy of storms which broke our drought. My plants that looked like fried bacon, all of a sudden woke up and started growing. They are a dandy consolation for our loss of the hummingbirds that had flown off for South America after living here for the Spring and Summer.  I have never had this much Fall bloom and flowers in my garden beds. The splatter of bright colors has lifted my blue spirits and reminded me of why I bothered to plant and cultivate a perennial border in the first place. Amazing color paves the borders of my brick walkway. Quite a few of the perennials can be discerned from the photos posted here. A spectacular purple mum created a huge mound of lavender at the end of the bed, reflecting the color posted at the other end of the bed by the tall Cosmos. The Cosmo heads are bobbing and swaying in the wind making a graceful floral ballet. They look like fluttering butterfies.  The other mums are waning at this point, but there are still blooms of pink, yellow, orange and red to add some color to the bed.  Mariogolds provide orange and maroon blooms, Morning Glories have purple morning trumpets. Dahlias are adding a touch of red and rust. Crape Myrtles still have small crumbles of pink and purple.  Portulacas provide a few blossoms of yellow, red and pink. Pentas in the sun are still yielding red flowers. Montauk Daisies are just dying out but still have a few blossoms, Phlox have one or two pink blooms and the pinks are still yeilding pink flowers, spare but flowering.

The migrating butterflies have been dinnering on my perennials. Of course the Butterfly bush, Buddleia, which is a stupendous dark blue/purple (seen above and to the right), has been a magnet for the migrants. Up until three days ago the Wild Asters were a busy lunch counter. They have started to die down, but the Buddleia is going strong. I have regularly been dead heading the bush, which has caused a constant blooming to continue through the Fall season. I have had so many varieties of butterflies visiting that they made me pursue their names. Unfortunately my research is not as up to date as my photographs. I do know the names of the Buckeyes that are still passing through on a daily basis.The one photographed here (left above) is very beat up from its migration. Nonetheless the color is still breathtaking.  Above the Buckeye to the left is another butterfly, yet to be identified. The Monarch migration came through about two weeks ago, and we had a much larger contingent than usual this year.  On the right above here you can see one on the Wild Asters. Another unknow butterfly is this orange on with a different wing configuration. It has been a terriffic season for butterfly watching and flower picking. I think those things in combination has recharged my spirit a bit. This is what I moved here for, the natural creatures that allow you to observe them. A small joy!