A Kansas Country Garden: September Zips By

Morning Glories are in the glory in the autumn.

What happened to September? It just arrived and suddenly we're waving good-bye. In the flower gardens the demands of summer have lessened, or perhaps they're just being ignored. Many plants are past their prime, but there are still islands of color. 

Autumn Joy Sedum lines the way to the bridge where Morning Glories bloom.

Autumn Joy Sedum plants are scattered throughout the gardens. They are a fine plant. During the spring and summer they play a supporting role and can be easily ignored. Not now. They have erupted in brilliant bloom.  Butterflies swirl around the flowers and a faint hum emanates from happy bees as you walk by. Walking by could be an ordeal if you are the least bit squeamish about spiders. They, and there are many of them, have set up intricate webs in the most inconvenient places. They are not dangerous to people, but certainly are to insects, so I try not to disturb them.

Somewhere behind this mound our guinea, Martha, sets on a nest of infertile eggs.

Maxmillion sunflowers glow in the morning sun.

It has been windy. The wind has brought thousands, perhaps millions of tiny dried grass heads. With blades as thin as hair, they tangle with each other and mound in drifts of sticky fluff. They are everywhere: in the gardens between plants, in the shrubs crammed in between branches and mounded around buildings. Crazy phenomenon. My theory is that it is due to extra rain this summer and the fact that the pasture across the road was not grazed this summer.

Pink gomphrena (globe thistles) continue into fall with a strong bloom.

Fall has barely begun. There is lots to look forward to as the season progresses. 

 In the vegetable garden only tomatoes and peppers remain. There are more than we can eat so I have been canning tomato sauce, salsa and pepper jam. Roasted peppers are frozen.