Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - September 2012

Mid-September. Only one week until the calendar tells us it is officially autumn, but we are already feeling the sweet brisk breath of autumn in the early morning air.

Fall migration is in full swing. Every day a virtual army of new birds passes through the garden on their way farther south. Some of them, like the hummingbirds, linger for a while, much to our delight. But the birds are not the only migrants. Monarch butterflies, too, are stopping for a visit as they head down to the mountains of Mexico for the winter. The milkweed is in full bloom now, tempting them to tarry for a while.

All my "old faithfuls" that bloom month in and month out and that get featured here every month are still brightening the garden this Bloom Day. Things like blue plumbago, Tecoma stans ("yellow bells"), Hamelia patens, yellow cestrum, cannas, Anisacanthus wrightii, salvias, and many others. But a few new plants are showing off for me this month, also.

Well, actually, this is hardly new. It is more in the category of an "old faithful," but I don't think I've shown it to you lately. It is crossvine 'Tangerine Dream.' It blooms heavily in the spring, but then it continues to rebloom again and again through the summer, and just now it is full of its pretty trumpet-shaped blossoms.

As I've shown you in a couple of earlier posts, September is the month for Lycoris bulbs to send their magical blossoms out for us to enjoy. We call them "naked ladies" because they come to us unclothed by any leaves. The leaves will emerge later after the blooms have died back.

And, of course, there are the oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida), sometimes called schoolhouse lilies because they bloom just as the school year begins. In an earlier post, I showed you a paler version of this plant whose blooms were rather pink. This variety bloomed just about a week later and is more of a true oxblood color.

Late summer and early fall is when many of the roses in my garden get their second wind. Roses like...

  'Belinda's Dream'

'Ducher'

'Lady of Shallott'

'Molineux'

'Darcy Bussell'

'Litchfield Angel'

In fact, all of my plants seem to have gained their second wind today after a couple of days of wonderful rain. This followed several weeks when not a drop had fallen and has been a great relief to the gardener as well as the garden. 

We all need that second wind as this bittersweet time of year reminds us that time is passing all too swiftly. In honor of that passage of time, I leave you this month, not with a blossom but with a song - the one that perfectly describes this time of year and my time of life.

Thank you to our hostess, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, and happy Bloom Day to all. Thank you for visiting.