Flowers are starting to succumb to cool and rainy weather. So, it is beginning to look like autumn here. Summer is truly over.

1. Pelargonium X hortorum, zonal geranium is finally starting to look somewhat shabby after the recent rains, although several others continue to bloom as if nothing happened.

2. Rosa spp. ‘Iceberg’ rose is probably the last rose to bloom for the season. A few young floral buds are molding before they bloom. The roses get pruned before New Year’s Day.

3. Tagetes patula, French marigold is more seasonable. It is expected to bloom through autumn, and could continue until replacement with warm season annuals during spring.

4. Abutilon X hybridum, flowering maple does not seem to know when to stop blooming for autumn. Its bloom should probably decelerate now that the weather is getting cooler.

5. Rhododendron spp., azalea is even more confused than the ‘Duc de Rohan’ azalea that bloomed not so long ago. It is blooming more abundantly and even later, or not so early.

6. Rhody curls up somewhat tighter while the weather is cool. His fur should get fuzzier, but does not seem to be doing so. He insists on coming to work with me, out in the cold.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Angel’s trumpet continue to bloom even as the weather cools. Perhaps they will continue until frost. Their floral color is a bit off though, perhaps as a result of the cooler weather. They work out nicely for ‘Six on Saturday’, though. Strangely, not much else is blooming as well as angel’s trumpet is now.

1. Angel’s trumpet probably should not bloom so late, but does not seem to know or care that it is autumn. I was impressed by a previous bloom phase, so will see what this does.

2. This is a more open flower of the same angel’s trumpet as above. Its floral color is the most variable of the cultivars, but has most commonly been more peachy pink than this.

3. This angel’s trumpet flower should be frilly double white. I suppose that it is not so off color. However, it is barely frilly, and lacks double form. I can not complain. It is pretty.

4. This angel’s trumpet flower blooms with the peachy pink color that #2 should exhibit, but should bloom yellow. Again, I can not complain. I just wonder what is going on here.

5. If I remember correctly, this rhododendron is not off color like some angel’s trumpets are but it is very off season. My complaint is that it will not bloom for spring as it should.

6. Rhody might disapprove of all this off color commentary if he were not so thoroughly distracted by someone with goodies. He can not see the same colors as humans anyway.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Although the weather is predicted to be more typical, it was prematurely autumnish last week. It is a reminder that it really is time for Autumny and wintry flowers to come into season while summery flowers go out of season. This “Six on Saturday” is about some of such coming and going. (To comply with guideline #7 of the participant guide for Six on Saturday, I am limiting verbiage.)

1. Viola wittrockiana, pansy is traditional for winter floral color. It replaces petunia, and should last until petunia becomes seasonable again next spring. It is coming into season.

2. Petunia X hybrida, petunia is traditional for summer floral color. It replaced pansy as pansy finished its season last spring. It is going out of season now. Do you see a pattern?

3. Tagetes patula, marigold is traditional for autumn floral color. It was just installed as a narrow border for a small rose garden. For there, it is one of the more reliable annuals.

4. Pelargonium peltatum, ivy geranium, in eight or so baskets, hung from the eaves of a prominent building at work, but never flourished. They will be recycled somewhere else.

5. Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation does not do much through summer, but now begins to bloom as nights become cooler. I forget that it is here. I also forget how delightful it is.

6. Canna, canna blooms a bit less enthusiastically as the weather begins to cool, but can technically bloom until it gets frosted. If it does not get frosted, it can bloom continually.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

The unseasonably relocated roses that I had been so concerned about for the past month or so continue to surprise with more growth and bloom. So do a few other species. These first three happen to be from Tangly Cottage Gardening. The following two happen to be white. The last happens to not be of horticultural orientation.

1. Canna ‘Stuttgart’, along with a few other fancy potted Canna, unfortunately needed to be relocated from the deck that they inhabited at work. However, it seems to be happier after relocation, and makes larger and more ornate leaves, which is what it is grown for.

2. Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ bloomed lightly but on time for early summer, and then bloomed again before the original bloom faded completely. The secondary bloom is only now fading, with a backdrop of duckweed and watercress. (This is an older picture.)

3. Hesperantha coccinea, crimson river lily was not expected to bloom because it was so dinky when it arrived late last winter. I thought that its bulbs would need to mature for a year or so before they would be mature enough to bloom. Apparently, it wastes no time.

4. Albizia julibrissin, silk tree blooms white instead of pink, although, because it blooms on top of its high canopy, not much of it is visible from the ground. It finished blooming already, but some minor pruning recently revealed a few of these aberrant white flowers.

5. Rosa spp., rose is another of the few roses that were not expected to bloom after their unseasonable relocation. It seems to be a climbing type, with long and limber stems, and trusses of small flowers. I am impressed that it not only survived, but is growing so well.

6. Heather fails to be as impressed by these developments that I find to be so surprising.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/