End of the garden

Blogging and gardening have taken a backseat to puppy training.

A new puppy is a completely different ballgame from an old, settled dog who lives to nap next to you, or on your lap, while you blog or read or study to teach a Bible study.

Joy, chaos, frenzy, laughter, and aching bones as you bend down to put on your shoes, yet again, and take the puppy outside after he rings his potty-bells.  Skin chafing slightly from constant contact with tiny, testing puppy teeth (I know you said no bite, but is this too hard?  How about this?  Or this?).

So, with sincere apologies, the dregs of the garden in unremarkable format.  A day or two ago, I yanked everything out, and Shawn bagged it up for fall pick-up, and just like that the 2018 garden is over, except for some lovely dried hydrangeas that I probably should have photographed instead of what's here.  However, lacking as the pictures themselves might be, I think it is a grace that these plants have continued blooming for so long.  A grace, and a miracle.  I am thankful.

These day lilies have gone on and on, to my complete delight.

Wild cosmos.  They self sow.  I can't get the big pink ones to do anything, but these grow like weeds.  I think that they might, officially, be weeds, actually.  But I love the autumn hues, especially right now.  Well, until a day or two ago when I pulled them out.

The nasturtiums were long lasting, if droopy.  Yes, they were quite bedraggled by the end, but I enjoyed them all the same.

The zinnias were prolific, as usual, and added a whimsical touch to the yard for the better part of the season.  Something about them makes it hard to photograph them satisfactorily.  I think it's because they have such charming details, but you lose the details if you pull out to show how many there are.  I always get drawn in by the detail, and then I don't have any pictures to document the big-picture effect.

The four-o'-clocks were also charming, and they were even all volunteers!  Oddly, I can't get the color.  These flowers are red, not pink.  The pink ones are a pretty, pale pink.  I do not know why my phone turns all the red four-o'clocks into fuchsia.  I can capture a red zinnia . . .

The cleome, also a plant that readily reseeds, was unremarkable this year.  I used blossom booster too early, and the foliage suffered.  I think plenty of seeds were set for next year, notwithstanding.

A bonus blossom on my obedient plant, long after the main bloom had finished.

A totally unexpected rebloom of snapdragons!

A stunted white petunia in a pot.  Even the simplest things can be so pretty, can't they?  It is an encouragement to all of us, that we should bloom wherever we are, and someone will be blessed.

The cosmos might be weeds.  These are definitely weeds, but I appreciate how they brighten the shade under a grove of trees.

Now for some photos I actually like:

I had no idea hibiscus would continue so long!

Here is the furry fluffball who keeps me out of my garden.  Did you know that four-o'-clock seeds are very bad for dogs?  And did you know that small stubborn dogs are wont to hunt four-o'-clock seeds at every possible opportunity?

A rose from my husband, to keep the joy going indoors, even as it fades outside.