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The mina lobata (Spanish flag, exotic love vine) is doing pretty well. Full sun would probably have been even better, but I'm satisfied with this level of performance. I keep seeing hummingbirds visiting it, so the rumors are true! This vine would be welcome in next year's garden.
Apparently the seeds look like morning glory seeds (not surprising, as they're in the same family), but so far, I haven't seen anything resembling a seed pod that could hold a seed that large. I'll keep looking; maybe the first flowers didn't set seed (or simply haven't finished ripening), but these later blooms still might produce. I'd love to save some seed for next year!
I've just read about someone in the UK who had this vine flowering into December! I doubt mine will last that long, but I'll be impressed if they last even until late October or early November.
Every now and then we get a clematis bloom. The fall flowers are never quite as large or impressive as the spring blooms, but of course they're still welcome.
So far we've had some of the double white, this pale lavender (in the photo below), and 'Pink Climador' (which I photographed for a recent post-- the ones with the dark-tipped anthers). No rebloom from 'FireFlame', yet, nor from the third clematis from Mom-- the soft bluish purple with wine anthers. I'm not sure if the last one is even a rebloomer, but 'FireFlame' should be, once it gets established. This has been a hard year for it, though, so we may have to be patient and wait until next spring.
The Indian blankets (or blanket flowers) are still going. The longer they bloom, the more I like them. I'll start more from seed in spring. These are supposed to come back and may self-sow, but I already have the seed, so I'll use it. Besides, there are more places that could benefit from some cheerful, effortless red and yellow.
The morning glory that found the newly built arbor has burst into flower. I think it's 'Heavenly Blue'. It's definitely blue-looking, though maybe not quite as pure blue as the 'Heavenly Blue' we grew a couple of years ago. There are faint purple markings on these flowers, more visible on some than others. Well, whatever they are, they're pretty!
The giant marigolds haven't been super sturdy, but they're still putting on new (smaller) flowers. I've saved some seed for next year, but I'm not even sure where I'll scatter it. I hate not to save some, though. I'll find a place... I don't even know if these "come true" from seed, but it's easy to pull them, if they're not up to par.
The night-blooming jasmine is covered in flowers, and Donald (the night-shift dog-minder) says that the fragrance is powerful.
Here's another source of powerful fragrance-- the butterfly ginger (Hedychium coronarium). They've been blooming for weeks, but for some reason the scent hasn't been as powerful as I'd remembered from previous years. The fragrance probably carries better in a specific set of conditions-- temperature, time of day, humidity. You can certainly smell them when you get close and take a sniff, and the ones brought inside the house throw a bit of scent, too.
I was surprised to find some sweet-smelling blooms on the banana shrub this week, too. I didn't remember that they bloomed this late in the summer. Now that is a scent that can waft a good distance. Deliciously fruity.
I've let the purple coneflowers go to seed and have been harvesting them as they darken and dry. These have a way to go before they're ready to gather.
The marigolds are tireless, though I haven't even thought about dead-heading them a singe time this whole summer. Such tough, prolific bloomers!
The river oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are dangling green seedheads. I'm waiting for them to dry and turn tan-- my signal to harvest them. There are more places in need of drowsy-looking, floaty "sea oats".
I think (and hope) these are flower buds on the Confederate rose (Hibiscus mutabilis)! Yay! Color-changing flowers in our future!
