Come on, come on

That's what I think every time I look out my bedroom window at the native plants along the privacy fence. There are a few coneflower, ironweed, and rudbekia just starting to flower. I'm inpatient to see them all in bloom.

Last fall, I purchased some "hardy" mums. In the past, I have planted such specimens in the fall, but they don't do well, pooping out before they can bloom again. This time I left them in their pots and overwintered them in the garage. They looked pretty pathetic by the time I brought them out into the sunshine, but perked up after a while. Yesterday, I transplanted them under the purple leaf smokebush; I plan to interplant some Stella d'Oro daylilies with them. In preparation for this effort, my granddaughter helped me expand the edging around the smokebush. (When a task involves a lot of bending, she is quite handy to have around.)

I also expanded the edging around the 'Golden Spirit' smokebush, as I plan to interplant something like coral bells with the 'Autumn Joy' that is there now.

Other plans include pruning the highbush cranberry that is taking over, obscuring this honeysuckle vine. The vine climbs over the fence; my neighbors actually like it. I want to plant more honeysuckle vines along the back fence, where I can see them better. But first, I have to get rid of the trumpet vine I regretfully planted there.

There are alot of volunteer sunflowers growing wherever I don't mow, including this row. I assume they are from the bird feeders. If I can't fill the feeders for a while, at least I can provide some alternatives for the birds.

The 'Betty Corning' clematis is done, but 'Avant-garde' is at its peak. The sweet autumn clematis has almost reached the top of the pergola already. There are a lot of volunteer morning glories from last year right behind it.