August garden

My heart isn't really in my garden right now.  Yet, going out and browsing for spots of beauty to photograph seems healing.  I'm behind on deadheading; blossoms are faded and going to seed.  Even so, life abounds in the garden.

The sedum is beginning its autumn blush.

Life buzzes and flutters all over these plants.  

I was only able to capture a small proportion 

of the butterflies and bees, 

but one of these photos showcases four butterflies, 

which is getting close to the truth of it.

The sedum is nestled amongst zinnias 

which I ought to have pulled out from in front of it.

I have no will to uproot zinnias, 

even when they are much too tall for the front row.  

How can you pull out something 

that looks like this?

Zinnias are also butterfly magnets:

The zinnias have been blooming all summer, 

but like the sedum, 

the asters are just coming into their show of beauty.

I mostly try to plant pink flowers, 

because they are my favorite.  

But other colors are always creeping in, 

and I have no design discipline, 

so I let them grow and love them.

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums in sunshine

Sunshine on a nasturtium is a glorious sight to behold.

I appreciate the unremarkable things,

like hostas...

and potted begonias who can't figure out where the sun is, 

and whether to reach for it or hide from it...

My Rose of Sharon has sprung up from its petite beginnings
into a gawky adolescent shrub with sparse foliage and gangly branches,
but the blooms are delightful nonetheless.

I've never seen this miniature white clematis before, 

but it appeared like a fairy mist in the shade outside my living room windows, 

and I left it be.

The best miracle was this praying mantis,

on a zinnia (of course).

I was trying to take a picture of the blossom,

when I went to brush off what I thought was a stray piece of foliage.

Then I realized the green was

a devout little insect,

peacefully bowing his head and folding his hands.