Flowers Last Stand

This little bouquet, here and above, was a "thank you" to a friend for giving me a start of her mother's iris.

Wandering around my yard, with clippers in hand, it was surprising how many flowers were still blooming. It's a good time to take inventory of your plants and make a note to insert a few late bloomers next spring.

In this arrangement (I use arrangement loosely):

Pink frilly "Hibiscus Syracuse "Lucy" Atthea (bush)
Pink zinnia (annual)
Pink phlox (perennial/self seeds)
Pink "Lyon's Turtlehead" (perennial)
Yellow "Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia" (perennial)
Yellow Rudbeckia "Golden Glow" (perennial)
Peach Nasturtium (annual)
"White Laguna" (annual)

As the weather cools, many annuals really put on a show. For those that have finished, pull and replace with annuals: ruffled kale, decorative cabbages, mums, or pansies.

If you've finished planting, consider a pumpkin, gourds, decorative corn, and other fall products. After pulling the dieing annuals, simply apply a layer of mulch or straw on top of the potting soil and add any of the above.

If you're totally finished with outside projects, empty the potting soil in your garden, wash out your pots with a brush and 10% solution of bleach to water, turn upside down to dry and store. If you leave the soil in the pots over winter, chances are they will crack from freezing water.

Right now, I'm picking a flower from my still blooming Julia Child rose for a small vase. Another little vase of nasturtiums and maybe take all the blooming petunias before I throw away the plants. Waste not - want not.