September

Color is returning to the yard. The grass is still green. The hateful lawnmower died this week. The gas tank, connected by a metal pipe to the innards of the engine, fell off. The pipe was cracked in two. It may have tried to break my leg last summer, but I got the last laugh. Now I need to buy a new lawnmower.

Turn of the Century is blooming again. I cut it back hard in July due to damage from Japanese Beetles.



Zinnias provide color. They seem more vibrant this morning.



The acorns have started to fall. Bumper crop. It sounds like tap dancing outside my window at night if I park the truck too close to the house.



It's 72 degrees. Hurricane Earl is in the Atlantic, threatening to land on the NC coast. We're not expected to see any rain according to the latest forecasts. No rain in sight for the next 10 days. The high today should reach the mid 90s, again. *sigh*

Some of my favorites

It's that time of year. I love stargazers. The colors and the fragrance are everything I enjoy about flowers. A bouquet will be brought inside tomorrow to scent the house.



Luna Red is really putting on a show.



From either side, the huge blooms are spectacular this year.



Zinnias. Finally something other than pink.



Last night, Carla stopped by and we talked. We went to pay a visit to a guy that has admired my yard. I asked her to see if he would share a few blue agave pups from his huge specimen in the front yard. I dug two and potted them just before dark. I plan to move the snowball bush near the succulent bed and install one of these in its place. His survived the winter just fine, even as temperatures dipped to 11 degrees and stayed below freezing for 2 weeks.



Oh, what I wouldn't give for just a little of that cold now. It's 82 degrees. The high today will again reach the mid to upper 90s. A 30% chance of storms this evening repeats for the next 4 days.