Home accessories: The Late Summer Garden

It's butterfly season.

The air flutters with delicate, skittery things.

The pinks of summer remind me of ladies in silk dresses,

lifting their faces as a breeze passes by.

"Oh, what a rainy summer it's been!" they say, fanning themselves.

The purple butterfly bushes are the favorite café for local insects.

I'm learning that coneflowers and Russian Sage are perfect companions for an August garden, blending pinks and purples.

Globe thistles (Echinops ritro) add color and texture to August.

But where to find them?

Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) bloom like crazy and carry a garden into fall.

A butterfly feasts on a white cone flower.

Sedum Hylotelephium 'Purple Emperor' adds a deeper shade of pink,

almost the color of a mum.

Mother Nature knows how to transition seasonal colors, doesn't she?

The crepe myrtles are at their peak.

White Scottish Heather is calling my name.

Every year around this time, I find myself thinking about Fall. I've always been

up to my neck in publishing projects, and I was lucky if I set out a few pumpkins.

This year is different.

This is the year that I turn 60.

This birthday year, I will teach myself to enjoy the here and now.

I'll give it a shot, anyway.

Probably I won't line the driveway with autumn décor.

But mums, pumpkins, and hay bales are on my list.

A container garden won't take long to create and it will last until the first frost.

Maybe I'll make a few containers.

Something to say goodbye to August.

Something to welcome the new season.

Something to welcome a new state of being.

Are you enjoying the butterflies of August?

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