Year of the Begonia and Coleus

The shorter days and cooler evenings are telling me it's October!  It's always been a favorite month for me.  It's our anniversary and birthday month as well.

The leaves are falling all over the lawn.  Not yet the colorful leaves, except the red, yellow, and orange black gum leaves. 

The summer wants to hang around a little longer, even into October, in Virginia.  Temperatures creeping up into the 80's and the humidity follows suit.  Our flowers are still blooming.  The potted plants need frequent watering when rain doesn't fall from the heavens. 

If you buy a chrysanthemum be sure to water it frequently if you potted yours.  We bought a couple yellow ones last week and potted them.  I like to get the tightly budded ones in hopes they will last throughout the Autumn season. 

If you are a gardener, I'm sure you have noticed each year brings surprises.  This year bought a surprise to the gardener and the plants.  I was having quite a bit of pain throughout the spring into summer and found I have spinal stenosis.  I'm much better now after this flareup with the help of physical therapy but my garden is not.  In spite of the health issues a garden does what it pleases.  Plants grow or not and weeds always thrive. 

I'm calling this year the year of the Begonia and Coleus!  I've had them popping up everywhere!  In the driveway, on the edges of the bricks along flower beds, even in the lawn!

I'm not complaining as it has been quite joyful to plant these little beauties all about the neglected garden.  I'm just letting a lot of them to just bloom where they are.  It's like a sign from above that everything is okay.  Seeds always amaze me.  I marvel at the seeds that have been in the ground for years will suddenly germinate and turn into a lovely flower!  Did you know that seeds from the ancient pyramids still germinate?  If that isn't a miracle, I don't know what is! 

The seeds of this morning glory has still failed to blossom!  It's almost taken the arbor down with the weight of the foliage.  Grayden has fortified it several times and it still continues to grow and not bloom.  I guess all the energy is being used for its vines!

I've always had begonias in the urns on our front porch.  Red, white or pink have been planted over the years.  They drop their little seeds and under the right conditions (our rainy summer)  they germinate and flourish!  They are happy the gardener failed to refresh the mulch and frankly so am I!

The same with coleus.  My Nanny always had them and I usually have them as well.  This year I planted none, but they surely came up everywhere!  Several different varieties that I haven't seen for years.  A garden is full of surprises.  It's one of the reasons gardening fascinates me!

  

"There is a kind of immortality in every garden. " Gladys Taber