At The Curb

Gaura lindheimeri displaying  a last flush of flowers with Muhly grass in the background.

Mexican Sunflower (bottom) & Gaillardia make a brilliant contrast against the Hardy Ageratum.

Hardy Chrysanthemums just starting to bloom last week.

Mexican Bush Sage

Salvia leucantha the Mexican Bush Sage is listed as one of the top ten Texas plants one of mine too I absolutely love the all purple variety that is in the circle & driveway. The bicolored variety with white corollas & purple calyx, which is also in the circle, is just as good but I was slightly put off it by the description of the flowers from an acquaintance. She thought it looked like the parasitic wasp larvae on tobacco horn worms!      http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-04_braconid_wasp_on_hornworm.htm

Above the bicolor in the circle after 10 years has become 7ft tall & wide. Self seeding annuals, bulbs & yarrow take up this space in the spring.

Right & below with the deciduous Holly Ilex verticillata 'Winter Red' on the driveway.

Right with Lantana 'Miss Huff' and the Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia 'Torch') now 8ft tall, from seed this year, amazing.
Below with Miss Huff;  Salvia 'Indigo Spires' & the Catmint (Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant') which the Chicago Botanic Garden lists as the archetypal catmint. 

The Rain Garden

Ourageous in October, as usual, the rain garden is in it's glory.

The Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio' at the edge makes a nice neat start to the rain garden.
 Only about 4ft tall including flowers spikes you can have this ornamental grass even in a small garden.

Aster tataricus 'Jindai'

Growing on the wild park-side edge of the garden next to an Oakleaf Hydrangea & somewhat shaded by pine & fig trees the Tartarian Aster this year is blooming well for something that should grow in full sun. Usually mowed down by rabbits maybe after 10 years it has established enough to withstand the assault. It is said to be aggressively spreading http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=y150
not much chance of that here.

Salvia microphylla 'San Marcos Festival'

Summer seems reluctant to move on and we are having 80 degree days but nice cool nights. 
I saw a pair of humming birds feeding on the re-blooming Vitex (Chaste Tree) this morning.

So many fall flowers, Salvia microphylla 'San Marcos Festival' (little leaf sage) enjoying this warm dry weather is one of my favorites. This cultivar is low growing & spreading in my garden & has a great spring & fall flush of flowers. The buds of the evergreen hardy Chrysanthemum 'Hillside Sheffield Pink' intermingle.

Fall Fungi

Seen in the garden the last few days.

When we turned over a branch that had been laying on the ground for months as part of a rustic fence this brilliant blue/violet fungi was so startling I had to take a picture.

 Several years ago we had a decaying water oak taken down in the little wood. The 3 ft stump was left and I had visions of growing mushrooms on it. Then I saw squirrels munching on toadstools in the garden and gave up that idea. The stump now produces fresh fungi for other creatures.

Squirrels use the flat top of the stump as a dining table 

A Faded Rose

I love the way this rose changes color as it fades away. It is one of the Hybrid Teas that were in the circle when we bought the house 12 years ago. Amazingly still going despite my careless attitude toward these high maintenance plants

 In the background below you can see the pale apricot color when it first blooms & the tiny flowers of Persicaria 'Red Dragon'
http://www.plantdelights.com/Persicaria-microcephala-Red-Dragon-for-sale/Buy-Red-Dragon-Fleece-Flower/
The Mexican Bush Sage are the tall purple spikes below & run away Hardy Ageratum is behind the rose at right.

The pale yellow Chrysanthemum 'Ryan's Yellow' colors similarly as it ages as does Rosa mutabilis.