September is always such a bitter sweet month.  I love the cooler temps.  But, I have already begun the long slow mourn into winter.  That feeling actually begins when the daylilies bloom.  Perhaps it is the ephemeral nature of daylilies, their single day of glory and the daily deadheading.  Even that word, deadheading, brings with it a certain gloom.  And when I see that there is only one more bud on a cane, I go deeper into mourning stage.

I know, I know.  September brings turning leaves and winter squash and migrating birds and the sweet smell of bonfires.  But the gardens are definitely fading, and no amount of strategically place mum pots can tune that fade into anything but what it is.  A signal that the garden is going into a long sleep.

But today there are still a few things blooming.

A few pink petunias, Honorine Joubert anemonie, Endless Summer hydrangea in the Secret Garden

Echinacea. I wish I could remember what the orange ones were. Cherokee Sunrise, perhaps?

Hybiscus–over six feet tall!!!!

Forever and Ever hydrangea in the Lower Garden

I think this is Honeybells. The flowers are wonderfully fragrant!

Another very fragrant flower, Stained Glass, in the Secret Garden

Rudbeckia partnered with Walker’s Low Catmint in the Entrance Garden

Morning Glories on the archway into the Secret Garden

Hostas with Endless Summer hydrangeas in the Lower Garden

Annual geraniums pop in the Lower Garden

White Phlox in the Secret Garden

Knock Out Rose in the Secret Garden, planted this past spring

White Clematis on the arch into the Secret Garden

Limelight hydrangea in the Lower Garden

Annabelle hydrangea behind Walker’s Low Catmint. Those are red begonias to the left.

Tardiva hydrangea in the Secret Garden