Almost-Autumn color in the late afternoon

Yes, I know I need to straighten and top off my birdbath and yes, I know there's a weed in the lower left-hand corner of the photo. Too lazy at the moment to do anything about it. Must procrastinate.


I am loving 'New Blue' agapanthus. Its pale pinky blue florets are huge and quite elegant looking. Nothing psychologically cools down a hot August garden like a water feature and light blue agapanthus.

Here's a description from Monterey Bay Nursery: ‘New Blue’ -- flowers -- the notable feature of this variety is its very large flower size, to over 3" across. In addition, each flower displays a central blue stripe against lighter blue edges, sometimes with a defining dark marginal stripe on each side as well. Many other varieties also have this feature, which can be seen if you look closely, but in 'New Blue' it is obvious and distinctive because of the unusual flower size.The only drawback is that the flower clusters don't have that high a bud count. Evergreen to semideciduous, based on how much cold it gets, and frost hardy, with rich, medium blue flowers of intermediate height. Often blooms in mid to late summer, though I have seen waves of bloom in early spring as well, and it can continue to bloom until fall. Foliage is notably thin and grassy, habit is quite compact. rev 8/2006


Asteriffic!


This hot pink sedum from POW Nursery has been in the ground for a few years. It will likely turn to mush this winter and then spring miraculously from the ground in late winter or early spring. The Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) behind the birdbath was also decimated last winter. I really didn't think it would come back because I saw no signs of life well after other plants had rebounded. It surprised me and now I'm looking forward to its fuzzy purple fall flowers.


Finally, my attempt to conceal butt ugly irrigation valves was a success. I get to look at coleus instead of plastic and wires... till the coleus freezes, anyway.