Summer's Going

 Some are glad, some are sad.

I always have mixed feelings about the last day of summer. I love summer. But by late September summer looks tired. It's too early to start pulling out everything, so we try to enjoy the slightly bedraggled look of the garden and touch up here and there. And we look for those special things that only late summer, early fall bring. 

It's smokey today, not a "special" thing, but certainly a late summer thing here in the PNW, as wild fires continue to burn. We have had no significant rain since sometime in July and that wasn't much.

In our gardens sedums are the stars. 

And hardy fuchsias.

Nasturtiums pop up here and there from last summer's seed. 

Shrub roses are putting on a late flush of color.

Tom's fall blooming hardy cyclamen are popping up here and there too. He keeps spreading the little corms that proliferate and then surprise us with yet another spot of color. 

In his greenhouse the geranium cuttings are looking good.

So are his seedlings of winter pansies and columbine. 

The grass is slowly greening up. A tenth of an inch of rain a few days ago helped. The watering system is still being used. Sunny days mean the heat is still mostly off. Eventually the water bill and the heat bill will trade places.

And the moles are back. 

Tomorrow, Sept. 22, is the Autumnal Equinox. Good bye to summer.