Cool Autumn Days Ahead

I miss summer sunrises and look forward to their reappearance fall, winter, and spring when they are more visible from my cabin in the woods because they are directly in front of my windows. They are beginning again. What a joy!

This spring I planted a few daisy-like chrysanthemums; three early flowering ones have done very well all summer and are starting to flower now. I have some later flowering ones in bud and they too will flower soon. I know you can buy potted mum plants in the fall that are already in bloom and stick them into the ground; I enjoy watching them grow. Clicking on photos enlarges them.

The dahilas continue to brighten the garden. The purple daisy-like ones have been attracting hummingbirds all summer. I will dig them soon, store them in paper bags in the garage, divide them next spring, plant and spread them throughout the garden. (As long as temps in the garage don't get down to freezing, they are fine. I watch carefully and move them into the house for the very few days when that might happen.)

I love the final flurry of autumn flowers from mums and colchicums, don't you?  I don't understand why the latter are not found in more gardens; they are easy and surprise visitors because they appear as if by magic without leaves as the daylight hours decrease. (Leaves are produced in the spring and summer and produce the energy needed for bulbs to produce the fall flowers. By mid-June the leaves are usually gone.)