The month since the last bloom day, that is, from 16 Aug. to 15 Sept., has definitely brought a shift from high summer to nascent fall. Temperatures ranged from highs of 88F to 66F (average of 77 over 31 days), and lows from 42-65F (average of 52.6 over 31 days). This last week we’ve experienced a high of 86F one day, four days that hit the low 70s, and two days that reached only the high 60s. I can see low temperatures in the 30s coming up in the 10-day forecast. Most significantly, I switched from skorts to pants about a week ago, and we had our first woodstove fire of the season last night.

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Peach time came and went, a short season from about 20 Aug. until 7 Sept., during which time we picked about 600 peaches that were “keepers,” fewer than last year but most of these were bigger and less blemished. The best ones we ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and gave away to friends and neighbours; those that had some damage (but were mostly fine) became peach pie (2 pies), peach cobbler bread (12 loaves), and dried peach slices. And now the peach trees are bare again.

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The blooms that shine in my early September garden include:

EUTROCHIUM purpureum (Joe Pye weed), still going strong and attracting the lion’s share of the butterflies.

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a variety of SEDUMS (stonecrop), including Autumn Fire, Autumn Joy, Hab Grey, and Turkish Delight

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GOLDENROD (Solidago spp; volunteers all), shown with holly, phlox, hydrangea

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KIRENGESHOMA palmata (yellow waxbells). Frankly, one plant is not a show stopper; you wouldn’t notice mine if you weren’t looking for it. But it’s one of my favourite perennials, even though it’s yellow, because of its unusual leaves and flowers.

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HELENIUM autumnale (sneezeweed), reblooming from a Botanical Interests’ “Bring Home the Butterflies” seed mix of several years ago

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PHLOX

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GENTIANA asclepiadea (willow gentian)

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CLETHRA alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’ (summersweet)

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HYDRANGEAS (mostly PeeGee)

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BUDDLEIA davidii ‘Ellen’s Blue’ (butterfly bush)

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CHELONE lyonii ‘Hot Lips’ (turtlehead). I love watching bumblebees push their way inside the blooms and emerge covered in pollen.

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wild ASTERS

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BONUS: A few more flowers I’m fond of right now:

Anemone tormentosa ‘Robustissima’

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I’m not sure what I’ll have to show for October other than a pink aster (can’t recall name) and Aster laevis ‘Bluebird.’

And then there will be only autumn leaves (fall’s true flowers), and after that … snowcover until April.

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Spent by Mark Doty

“Late August morning I go out to cut
spent and faded hydrangeas—washed
greens, russets, troubled little auras

of sky as if these were the very silks
of Versailles, mottled by rain and ruin
then half-restored, after all this time…

…

In their silvered jug,
these bruise-blessed flowers”

(The whole poem is worth reading, here)

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.