Late August Blooms

I was watering this evening and spied a lovely bright goldfinch. First it perched on an old stem of a day lily near my pond. Then it flew to the Russian sage and perched there. I hoped it would stick around until I got the camera, but it was gone. I took these pictures instead.

Here is a crepe myrtle that I got from the Arbor Day Foundation as a twig. Originally it was planted with the other 10 trees I received two years ago. Only three survived and when this one bloomed last year I knew what it was. I moved it this spring to this location and look forward to it growing much taller.

The butterfly bushes are loaded with new blooms. There were no butterflies on these this evening, but Sarah saw some today. One in particular caught her eye because it was so tiny.

This year I opted not to dehead the spent blooms. The bushes are so big. For awhile I was regretting my decision because they seemed to be covered only with spent blooms. Now they are back to being full and fragrant with new flowers.




Here are some black-eyed susans that the groundhog did not find. These came from my old house in Columbia. I returned there once we moved into this house and dug up some lily of the valley that had come from Dan's grandfather's home many years before. In digging up those I got a clump of these too. They make a great combination because they bloom at different seasons.
















Finally, here is a blossom on one of my two hydrangeas. The first time this bloomed it was pink. Now it's blue. Must be from some fertilizer I gave it who knows when. It's on the backside of the bush so the deer can't see it to eat it.