Autumn Beauties for Flower Wednesday

Hello, Dear Friends, thank you for joining me

as we wind down the beautiful month of September together. 

The gardens have been gradually preparing for 

their long winter's nap, but there are still some 

lovely faces to greet me as I take my daily stroll. 

Here dahlia peeks over the lily-pad leaves of 

trailing nasturtium, while canary bird vine flutters overhead. 

Canary bird vine (Tropaeolum peregrinum)

 is easily grown from seed in areas with cooler summers. 

This nasturtium relative grows 8 to 12 feet, winding around a trellis or 

a taller plant, like here, where it is twining up a climbing rose. 

It gets its name from the flowers that look like canaries in flight. 

You can find the seeds in spring here: humeseeds.com  

I still have roses, too! This beauty loves the cooler 

temperatures. I have lost the name of this rose, 

but even without a name, it is lovely as can be 

with its purple leaves and apricot blush. 

The blooms are very large and fragrant. 

Autumn Joy sedum is also another star of the 

autumn garden. These beautiful plants 

are very old.....maybe 20 years old! 

I have three large clumps that are aptly named,

as they do bring such joy! 

As the season progresses, the color 

changes, becoming deeper and deeper. 

Here they are in August as the flowers start to open. 

Bees love them! 

They do require full sun and a well-drained site. 

Even in rainy Washington State, they thrive

because they are planted on a south-facing hillside. 

I rarely have to water or fertilize them and only 

cut them back in early spring. Cutting them back 

earlier in our rainy climate leads to rot as water 

can get into their hollow stems, so I leave them

 be all winter and cut them once I see new growth in spring. 

Rosy begonia are still blooming, too! 

I added some pretty chrysanthemums

to the rail above. 

I bought this flat of begonias in May and 

 just placed the whole flat into my galvanized tray planter

and they have been blooming ever since! 

I simply added weak fertilizer with every watering. 

Calibrachoa still blooms sporadically, too. 

These look like mini petunias, but have no scent. 

The hummingbirds love them, though. 

Believe it or not, we have year-round hummingbirds

here. Annas Hummingbirds are year-round, while

Rufous migrate south. 

I actually have a heated hummingbird feeder! 

Double begonia bloom with boxwood in a planter box. 

Begonia can take some sun, but prefer filtered sunlight

or bright shade. 

These have also bloomed all summer and look like miniature roses. 

Impatiens love the cooler weather and are at their peak

right now. I had these inside on my step-ladder for a while, 

but they were unhappy, so I put them on the window ledge

where it is nice and shady and they are very happy now. 

Soon Ramblin' Man will take the canopy down

for the winter, but for now, Maggie enjoys 

taking naps in the late afternoon sunbeams. 

A pot of white impatiens brightens her sleep. 

She is my elderly pet - 18 years now. 

We left the canopy up for the winter the first year

only to have it carried off by the wind, 

slamming into the glass doors and flipping

over the rail onto the ground. 

The door wasn't broken, but the frame has a permanent dent

and the framework of the canopy suffered some injury

that Ramblin' man was able to repair. 

We wisely put it away for winter now! 

We sometimes have powerful storms in winter. 

All of my petunias are gone now, 

but alyssum, bacopa and the fairy garden remain. 

The large, leafy plant is pineapple sage, 

which will soon have lipstick colored blooms. 

The leaves taste and smell just like pineapple! 

So good on a fruit salad! 

I planted these from 2 tiny pots in May. 

The fairies have been busy all summer 

collecting their orbs and tending to their garden :)  

Soon they will go into 'hibernation' :) 

Tiny alpine geraniums and star creeper 

have been well tended to all summer. 

But once the last of these blooms fade, so will the fairies.....

Of course, fall means pansies, too. 

These little charmers self-seeded among the wildflowers. 

(Herb Robert)

More self-seeders - 'whisker face' pansies. 

I will be planting winter pansies and bulbs 

next, and I will share those with you soon. 

I hope that you enjoyed visiting my flowers

and I hope that you are enjoying some 

lovely fall blooms where you are, too! 

xoxo

Today I am linking with: 

Flower Wednesday

Won't you join the fun? 

xoxo