The air has been soft and warm these last few days and the pool warm enough to swim in, BUT time to be outdoors in shorts and tank tops is getting short before the snow flies. The signs of winter approaching are getting more numerous. The fall grasses are starting to throw up their plumage.
The Virgina creeper in the trees is starting to color up, and a few of the early maples already are turning red and orange. Some yellow is peeking through on the birches and the ashes and, with a little bit of rain, the last roses of summer are pulling out all the stops and blooming like crazy.
The sweet autumn clematis is putting (Clematis terniflora, formerly C. paniculata) on a spectacular show this year with, it seems like, millions of tiny flowers.
The ‘Nikko Blue’ and ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas are pinking up.
The crabapples
and the seedheads on the coneflowers and rudbeckias are ripening, soon to be devoured by the hungry birds.
But the Autumn Joy sedum is still pink and the Amsonia hubrechtii is only just beginning to turn yellow.
This is one of my favorite fall plant combinations – their glory is still to come! Maybe there is still time yet!