There's a Riot Goin' On

Is it a coincidence that my garden always reminds me of different songs? This evening it turned out to be Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, because there truly is a wild and crazy riot going on in the garden. The colors are vibrant, and the plants are pulling out all the stops, giving that one last effort to continue the species before frost sets in.

I've been working a few days with Sarah at her shop, and on the way home, I had to pull over ... well, there isn't a place to pull over - so I just stopped in the road - to take a picture of these tiny red morning glory type flowers covering the bank beside the road. I would think they were cardinal vine, but the leaves are all wrong. They've never been there in past years. If anyone knows what they are, can you leave it in the comments? Sorry they are so blurry, but I couldn't actually get OUT of my car.

Getting home, I saw that my Mexican Sage (I think that's what it is. It's been months since I planted it) is FINALLY blooming, and it looks like it was worth the wait. Gorgeous deep blue/purple spikes are striking against the Mexican sunflowers (I'm sensing a theme here), butterfly bush, and echinacea. Really looks like a fiesta!

The Vitex waves overhead of the blooming sage. Last year I saw a picture of a street lined with Jacaranda (?) trees, and the color had me swooning. This appears to be similar in color! Wouldn't a row of these be beautiful along the side of the house, or along the split rail fence? The fragrance is swoon-worthy too.

And then there is the field of mint Bob showed me the other day. Look how lush it is! It made a delicious hydrosol, and I may have to continue distilling it - maybe for soap. There is so much of it, and it is so healthy and plump.

Last is the Beauty Berry. This is a plant I've lusted after because of the pretty little berries that are so unusual in color. Here's the funny part - All summer long I've been pulling little plants out of my flower garden that I didn't recognize. 100's of them. In the front border, I left ONE to try and figure out what it is when it matured. Guess what! It is beauty berry!