the last show

The garden is preparing to 'close' for the season, but seems to insist on putting on one last big show before she does.  Most of the perennials have produced their blossoms and seeds and are pretty much done for 2010.  But a few reserve their best performance for late in the season.  The photographs I am sharing are all of perennials except for the first which is of flashy pink petunias, some of which look like dancers from the Follies Bergeres twirling their skirts in a tantalizing late show.


 

A close-up of a wasp and a bee on sedum.  The sedum is not actually this pale.  I edited this photo to give it a more romantic feel.  There is an unedited pic of sedum below, where you will see its true colours.

My black knight delphiniums have produced a second series of blooms.  I love the mix of blues, purples, mauves and blacks.

More sedum appearing with its true colours.  These florets will darken into a burgundy during the next month.  They certainly attract the bees/wasps!

This pink cone-flower (echinacea) is always a show-stopper!

This delphinium bloom fell to the ground.  I placed it on the bird bath to photograph it.  Although it appears large here, it is barely an inch across and has seen better days. 

Cleomes emerge from the ground late in the season - appearing wherever they self-seeded from the year before.  Because they emerge from self-sown seeds they appear wildly and randomly throughout the flower bed and are always at risk of being mistaken for a weed - pulled and tossed away.  We usually manage to have 7 or 8 appear late in August.  I love the intricacies of the blossom.  The plant stands about 5 feet high and the blooms span 9 to 10 inches.

Ah, the ever-reliable and showy hydrangeas.  They dry beautifully and can make a dramatic autumn arrangement of greens and tans, or other varieties produce pinks and tans when dried.  I place several in a huge vase and the arrangement must be at least 4 feet in diameter.  By Christmas I toss it, as dried flowers just become dust collectors.