Lantana:
Bog sage with Curcuma 'Scarlet Fever' in back:
Bat-face cuphea:
Caladium:
The night-blooming jasmine was crazy this year. Super strong. For a while, I'd get a powerful whiff of it on the west-facing back porch at night. Keep in mind that this plant is on the north side of the house, well away from the back porch. While it's still not one of my favorite scents, it's better wafting over a distance than it is sniffed up close, in my opinion.
The white butterfly ginger lily is a far more pleasing fragrance, though, and unlike night-blooming jasmine, it can be enjoyed during daylight hours.
Pincushion ginger.
Not much for smell, but an exotic-looking plant.
Bronze fennel.
It flowered this year, so maybe I'll be able to gather seeds.
Forsythia sage and bog sage.
You may remember that this year the forsythia sage began blooming much earlier than it's "supposed" to, in this area. It's been blooming ever since. It'll be interesting to see what happens next spring/summer. If we have another mild winter, it might do an all-summer bloom again.
Dragonfly near Duranta 'Sapphire Showers'.
Purple coneflower.
They've been "done" for a while, now.
Canna.
I think this flower was on the 'Russian Red', which is grown more for its foliage than its flowers, which are relatively small for a canna lily. Still, the orangey-red of the flower against that purple stem is eye-catching and tropical.
Tropical milkweed seeds.
The tropical milkweed set seed. They have such soft, fluffy, feathery seeds! Very pretty.
After a while, the milkweed started to look "done". I probably waited too long to address the situation-- definitely the story of my summer in the garden! By the time I cut it back, it was looking positively dreadful, but I cut it into portions and stuck them in pots of soil, just in case. Amazingly, many of the pieces with absolutely no leaves sprouted new growth. I'm not sure how well they'll survive the winter after such a late start, but we'll give it a try!
Tuberose 'Mexican Single'.
This year, I saw my first tuberose bloom in the garden-- first 'The Pearl', then 'Mexican Single' (a.k.a. 'Single Mexican'). I gave them each a sniff or two, and I have to say... I don't see what the fuss is all about!
I was disappointed, in fact. Maybe I just haven't smelled them under the right circumstances; many flowers smell the best/strongest under just the right atmospheric conditions, and maybe I happened not to be outside when those happened. Whatever the reason, they weren't very strong-smelling, despite their reputation.
When I did lean in to take a close whiff, I'm not sure they were worth the effort. I'd read many people's description of the fragrance and been puzzled by some of them. Well, I now know just what they meant when certain people described the perfume as smelling like rubber. There's definitely a rubbery note in there-- which (unsurprisingly) is not really a selling point for me!
Now, it wasn't overtly horrible-- somewhat like a gardenia, maybe, but with a slight note of... tires or something. Hm. I'll be interested to see what they smell like next summer. Maybe it's one of those fragrances that are better from a distance than up close.
Roses of Sharon.
We've had an early taste of fall, the past week or so. It's been cool and dry enough to have the windows open at night and part of the day. You may not understand how wonderful this is, but trust me-- it's of monumental importance!
I love autumn weather. There's nothing else like it. The challenge now will be to do some work outside instead of just sitting and enjoying. Summer may not be completely done with us. Warmer weather may creep back in, but this breath of fresh air has proven that summer will soon be on its way out. I'm ready!
