Until now I didn't realize just how many garden-worthy prairie plants grow happily in my non-prairie garden!
And still we have a shadow of that Purple Spring Garden in some lovely last gasps of purple and pink: quantities of mixed Morning Glories, tall and now slightly scraggly cleomes, the unnamed and indefatigable soft purply clematis, bright clutches of Strawflowers (Helichrysum).
Sedum after sedum in full bloom, prickly waves of Verbena bonariensis and matted swathes of Scarlet O'Hara morning glories (mine are pinker!). Here and there pop the dusty pink rays of the odd purple cone flower (Echinacea), the last of the various Butterfly Bush blooms and the occasional sprigs of perennial pink sweet pea; the near epic crepe myrtlettes (yes here's proof they exist!) are still blooming beneath their protective wrapping of pink morning glory.
The morning glories stay open later in the day now and I like them best in this softer fall light. That's lucky because we have lots of them self sown every where -- even covering the arches in the vegetable garden. The Bachelor's Buttons are still blooming in the veggie patch, too.
I'm considering adding at least one Buddleia or Butterfly Bush Extraordinaire to the old veggie patch -- maybe I'll turn it into a butterfly garden! Seriously, how many tomatoes can three people eat?
Through it all pokes a strident, bold, discordant and eye catching red: a lone stalk of "Lord Baltimore" hibiscus, still blooming heartily and hardily if a bit bedraggled on the edge of the ditch. It reminds me of waving as the ship goes down.
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