The Autumn Garden

The garden is taking on autumnal hues these days. The loosestrife has lost all its bright purple flowers, and its tiny leaves have turned crimson and yellow.

The inulas are still towering over the other plants, but all their blossoms have dropped away and been replaced by bristly seedheads. (Well, not quite all -- I see one yellow flower out there still.) Their leaves are turning yellow and brown, too.

The teasels look entirely dead. We've left them up because supposedly birds like to feast on the seeds, but I haven't seen a single bird touch these spiny cones.

The cardoon is, likewise, entirely brown now. Did it really bloom at the end of October a couple of years ago?!

The nasturtiums are looking tired, but they're still cranking out flowers. The roses have a few last blossoms too, their pink, yellow and red softening the otherwise decrepit-looking flowerbed.

And the hydrangea flowers are beginning to blotch and fade, but still add a touch of color -- especially when paired with the plant's purpling leaves.