276/365: white prairie asters
The asters have won my heart for the sheer exuberant volume of blossoms they produce, for being hearty and beautiful in a kind of workaday way, for blooming so late in the season when the garden is a mess and I’ve lost my gumption for it until next spring. We might all pursue our vocations with such earnest cheer.
271/365: cup plant
More autumn blooms in my yard. The native garden keeps on giving!
270/365: meadow rue
I’m always happy to find flowers still in bloom in early autumn – besides the ubiquitous mums, of which, I a not a huge fan. The meadow rue can easily be taller than me, despite its delicate appearance. I like things that manage to be mighty and tender all at once.
264/365: red and yellow dahlias
Can’t you just hear the music? I see a dance hall full of swirling red and yellow skirts, smiling faces, warmth and energy.
There are no wallflowers among dahlias.
261/365: annabelle hydrangea turning pink
I guess it’s her little secret as to why, but something has our old-fashioned white hydrangea blushing positively pink…
260/365: sedum flowers
I always feel that the sedum flowers are the ‘girl next door’ in the garden. That is to say: gorgeous and overlooked.
I had to check to see how often I’d posted them in the past…turns out it’s been five years. Definitely time these beauties get another turn in the spotlight.
Visit the 2010 sedum post here. I really like what I wrote about them back then.
254/365: purple dome asters
Our garden has never had much fall interest so this year I’m excited about the new asters in the native plant garden. So excited, in fact, that I couldn’t wait for them to open entirely before photographing them several days in a row. There is something magical about emergence, being poised on the brink of discovery but with so much left unknown.
250/365: zinnia
Zinnias are a beautiful but humble flower. Planted by haphazard handfuls of seed, they spring up cheerfully wherever they’re thrown. It’s never about choreography, just a riot of joyful color.
The spotlight changes everything.
246/365: purple woods aster
Walking through the summer woods is a largely monochromatic experience. Green on green. Any other color really stands out.
I’m happy either way: I never tire of the infinite shades and textures of the leaves but the surprise of a wildflower is always welcome.
243/365: lone daisy
I have long been a fan of the simple beauty of the daisy. Sometimes it’s harder to see the everyday flowers. Isn’t that true of anything we love once it becomes familiar? It takes something to shake us out of our same-old eyes to realize all over again how stunning it really is.
avant garden 365 