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Sitting outside in the blue chair on the garage deck ramp with the new camera, the Canon Powershot SX1 IS, playing with the settings to see if any adjustments might give more pleasing images. Pointing to the right at the revamped heather bed with Phlox paniculata ‘David’ blooming whipped cream white with the lavender blooms of gold phase Calluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’.

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Now in view the Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ on the other side of the path. Phlox paniculata ‘Nora Leigh’ from Clay And Limestone’s Gail look sad because they were just divided. Wrong time to be doing that, but it happens here like that, a lot. They will be fine next year.

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Looking to the left from the same chair shows the volunteer Cosmos ‘Cosmic Orange’ seedling growing to the proper height. Last year the parents of this one were eight feet tall growing in the bed rather than the gravel path. On the right side of the path the orange reblooming Asclepias tuberosa picks up the hue. White shasta daisy Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Becky’ blooms in the yellow/white bed on the left side of the path.

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Standing at the corner of the veggie bed looking toward the shed zeroing in on a fading Eryngium ssp. Dying seed heads are being left on the stalk to follow the new low to no maintenance policy and also allow the seeds to plant themselves for more free plants.

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Still looking at the same bed, this time at the Belamcanda ssp. Same deal as the Eryngiums with seeds allowed to form, stand over the winter and drop to grow more free plants.

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I love these flowers and their twisted sister spent petals. Cool.

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Standing in the knot garden looking at the lone Zebra grass, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’ along the chain link fence. There originally was a row of these to hide the unsightly silver metal property boundary. The movement of the tassel flower heads fall into winter was delightful but the form was floppy and the spot bare from the March cut down during the spring bulb bloom time. Not acceptable. All but this one were replaced with evergreen Osmanthus fragrans seen in the foreground.

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Back to the blue chair, it is too hot to stand in the sun anymore. Back to the heather bed, looking at the seed grown marigold. Two types of marigold seeds have been sown here in the Fairegarden, Tagetes patula ‘Queen Sophia’ and T. ‘Tiger Eyes’. Seeds have been saved of the prettiest combination of these two resulting in the mahogany petals and yellow to orange *eye*.

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What are we taking a picture of here? Just pointing the camera up into the air, are we? Oh yes, the Sourwood tree, Oxydendrum arboreum is blooming. It is too bright to see the LCD screen so we point, shoot and hope for the best.

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This is what we are trying to capture. Looks like the flowers are spent and the little white berry things are hanging down. The Sourwood is a fantastic fall specimen, whose leaves turn a bright burgundy highlighted with white panicles.

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A second shot is taken. Upon loading onto the laptop, something appears to have been added to the image.

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While not the Holy Grail, certainly a bit of serendipity as this Hummingbird happened to land on the Sourwood in between shots. Cool.

Frances