Turning...

...thats sort of how its starting to feel this lazy Saturday afternoon...heavy clouds are rolling in and the breeze is steady and a little cool. In the foothills surrounding our little town, the trees are turning as well. The green leaves giving way to red, yellow, and orange. Football is on in the other room and I am thinking about making chili. As the summer fades and Autumn begins to kick in, my garden's late bloomers and die hards are having their day in the sun...literally.

The climbing roses are still putting on a little show hanging around Nancy's bird feeder. My giant dahlias are going strong and most likely will keep it up until the first good freeze.

Even the big dinner plate size white dahlias are about to pop for yet another round.

Even as I clean out the faded sunflowers and overgrown under plantings making way for the oncoming cold weather, I am surprised to find areas of interest among some of the tucked away corners of the garden. Like the nasturtium still hanging on to its jewel of morning dew this late in the afternoon and the weeds growing up through the rabbit's tiny Adirondack.

The garden is deceptive this late in the season. It requires a careful eye near the end of September to find the growth still taking place among the decline. These bird house gourds hiding in the lace of the Eskimo Marigolds, growing along my split rail fence, are still in infancy and possibly may not make it to the size I was hoping. But the race is on, and I am pulling for these funny little forms. I even have a handful of Roma tomatoes still ripening on the vine and I am flush with basil just waiting to be pesto.

Once where there was a big bed of coneflowers, now the birds are helped to a buffet of sculptural seed heads...perched and picking out the thistle of the spent Echinacea and Black Eyed Susans. The only thing left on my deck are the pink plastic flamingos spinning their whirly-gig wings in the wind...and a lone little Foxglove that has started to grow in the basket.

I pulled the mammoth sunflowers out by their roots and hung them out to dry as an offering and an acknowledgment to the Fall season. They are impressive in their size and fascinating hung horizontally on the back of my old shed. Their sturdy stalks support their unnatural repose and their heads become an all -you- can- eat buffet for birds and critters. I missed communing with my garden this summer so it seems right to spend some quality time with my outdoor space now. I have been photo- documenting the passing of some of these flowers and plan on turning some into digital prints and others will appear as decals on new ceramic pieces. Which reminds me...I need to get to work...upcoming potters' studio tour in a few weeks...but more on that another time and I am still feeling lazy... so, I think I am going to just finish soaking up the day. Hope your doing the same.