Blooming Friday

These pictures were taken before our first killing frost and the remnants of tropical storm Ida.

'Clotilde Soupert'

Rosa rugosa rubra

'Felicia'. I love the color of this rose.

Rosa arkansana

Aster 'Miss Bessie' (with American beautyberry in foreground)

View from an upstairs window

After the frost the dahlias were turned to brown mush and 'Miss Bessie' was beaten down by the rain, but the garden isn't finished.

The garden beside the house is still green although the 'Queen of Siam' basil is done and the Japanese beautyberries lost their leaves in the wind and rain. This time of year I prefer these beautyberries bare anyway; the fountain shape of the bush and berries show to better advantage.

The flowers of the Encore azalea 'Autumn Amethyst' were killed by the cold, but
not the buds, so they're still flowering. In mild years they bloom into December.

There are still spots of fall color around. The oakleaf hydrangea always changes color very late.

The last flowers of 'Basye's Purple' were zapped, but it is now showing some
lovely fall color, courtesy of its Rosa foliolosa heritage. R. foliolosa is a
rose native to the southcentral United States and looks a lot like R. arkansana.

The foliage of the prairie roses (R. setigera) is turning a lovely bright shade of yellow

as has this Calycanthus.

The highbush blueberries at their peak of color now. Many
of them turn a ruby to burgundy red that is really beautiful.

After the frost the swamp cyrilla or titi instantly began to change. Cyrilla and
blueberry are usually stay colorful well into December. If the weather stays moderate
enough all of the leaves on the cyrilla will change to orange, then crimson red.

And the pansies are just getting started! I'm always a sucker for the purple ones.

For more Blooming Friday posts, visit Katarina at roses and stuff.