Fall Blooms Along the Path

We had a couple hours of a good, soaking rain this weekend, so the blooms seem to be much more colorful now.  After the rain, it was a good time to do more weeding and cultivating.  I also trimmed back an early spring creeping phlox that had crept a little too far and was starting to smother the plumbago.  

The nasty iris borer had laid its eggs in the leaves of some of my iris plants, so I cut all the leaves close to the base of the plants to prevent the hatched worms from traveling down to the fleshy rhizomes where they do their damage.

I planted more English lavender along the edge of the path, hoping that its fragrance will be released when its brushed.  I paired the lavender with yellow yarrow -- my favorite color combination. The foliage of both plants is a pretty grayish green.

The burgundy coreopsis or tickseed stands out nicely against the neutral color of the rocks.

This is the third blooming of my peach rose bush.  With the dry weather this year, I didn't have a problem with black spot on the leaves that affects it when we have a rainy summer.

My ironweed continues to get more blossoms.  I love the bright reddish purple color of it.

Turtlehead got his name because the flowers look like turtle heads -- I can see the resemblance!

This butterfly bush amazes me, since it completely dies down to the ground every winter and I never think that it will actually survive.  But each June, there are the new sprouts at the base and it grows to at least 7 feet tall!

Have a great week!