Those that I've left to mature are blooming madly. There are a few of the Monarda left and even a few random blooms on a favoured clematis, but the lilies and the irises, the roses and the bluet are all long gone from bloom. A few others are yet to come into bloom like the Japanese anemone. Black-eyed Susan and Echinacea are still there, but the garden has moved into a colour-muted stage, no doubt about it, in preparation for fall shut-down, as gradual as that process is.
It's a mature garden in a sense. At one time our garden sculpture of Discobolus had a clear place of its own, and now it's barely noticeable, the cedars that were so minuscule when we planted them flanking the sculpture several decades ago have grown enormously, leaning into and surrounding the sculpture now.
We planted nothing, just as well, around the Three Graces and their view is uninterrupted so we can appreciate their sculptured grace. There is colour galore, of course, in the garden pots, from nasturtiums to petunias, calla and canna lilies to begonias. The begonias, retrieved in their bulb state from winter storage in the basement demonstrate their appreciation by returning to life in early spring as soon as they're replanted outside, rewarding us throughout the summer months with their wonderful petalled forms, lovely delicate texture and superb shades.
We take much for granted, it is true, expecting the garden vegetation to outdo itself year after year, from the magnolia, which at this late stage has decided to put out a few late blossoms, to the purple smoke tree which for some reason known only to itself, dies back in the early spring before it becomes once again rejuvenated, to the corkscrew hazel so attractive to those ravenous Japanese beetles that ravish its foliage.
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