other lilies

technically not part of the 'garden', and very tricky to capture the immaculate white, but here they are, 

my amaryllis (gift from my mom)

 

after the rain

The purple mums have started to open as well! 

The shrub is much smaller than the white one because I planted it under the vine, not in full sun. 

hues

For some mysterious reason, the blossoms which were white after opening have now taken on complex hues of pink and lila... The initial yellow centers have either remained or, on the contrary, faded to white. They get more beautiful day by day.

irresistible

I am falling in love with this goldenrod, after bright yellow flowers in autumn, 

it looks marvelous even now, and the leaves are getting red hues... 

you can also see some scattered snapdragons, blossoming a second time.

more late autumn colours, this is my favourite time of the year... and more tiny chrysanthemums about to open!

my autumn sovereign

sumptuous ones

(the gorgeous red-edged leaves belong to a japanese tree peony i bought this spring, i hope it will blossom next year)

 

frail october

 

late visitors

 

the dark lords of my garden

more mysteries

This should be considered a weed, it grows in a few places in the garden and can become a small bush, so vigurous that it comes back quickly and more strongly when cut down to the base. I have two growing next to the house wall (below), but they are so lovely I don't want to get rid of them. Especially now in autumn, when the leaves also display many reddish, yellow and orange hues.

When looking up their name, I discovered it is called 'Phytolacca americana', 'cârmâz' in Romanian and I remembered a short novel I read in my youth, Kyra Kyralina by Panait Istrati, where Greek women living in the South of Romania, close to the Danube, would use 'cârmâz' to paint their lips and cheeks red - could it possibly be the same plant?

If you want to read more about the novel:

http://seraillon.blogspot.com/2012/05/panait-istratis-kyra-kyralina.html

 

who can resist colours

*Rudbeckia hirta Rustic dwarf - 

dwarfs in pots, dwarfs in the garden, what can be more fun :-)

and they are supposed to come back too!