The garden is starting to look a little messy

This is the time of year when I start to lose interest in weeding. Its actually been that way for quite a while this summer and there are lots of weeds. But I do have really nice flowers too.
The tall phlox are in bloom now. I have 5 or 6 different varieties and they look nice all together in a vase. They aren't the best cut flower. They smell nice but after a day or so they get very messy and drop petals all over the place. I passed one on my walk this morning that had a very light pink flower and light green variegated leaves. Maybe I'll see if I can find one at a perennial sale.

This picture was taken when everything still looked pretty good.
The black-eyed susans really add alot of color and they are still going strong. But the purple coneflowers are looking a little old these days. I don't like to dead head them because the birds like the cone part. This picture does not show the height of the dahlias which are now between 4 and 6 feet high. These red ones are
returning from last year. They are about 8 inches across, huge impressive flowers! Love these.

This two toned pink flower is new this year. The new dahlias I bought this year have taken a long time to bloom and have not had the same flower production as the ones from last year. Also, last year I had an all pink one that I have not seen yet this year.

In this arrangement you can see some other dahlias. The one on the far right has cream petals that are edged in maroon with a yellow center. This plant produces TONS of flowers and it did last year too. The red flower at the bottom left is a dahlia that is smaller and brighter than the big ones. There are some zinnias there. The ones I bought this year were from Stillmans(just so I remember) and they are big and bright. That yellow sunflower is one of a few that actually came up from the many sunflower seeds I planted. These last pictures are asters. They are small, about 2 inches in diameter but they come in different colors and will bloom right until the frost. I have just been cutting them and putting them together in little vases on the window sill.

Meeting Joanne

Here are some pictures of my visit with Joanne. All I can say about this picture of me is, "Oh, so THAT'S what you look like when someone tells you to say 'french fries'!!

This picture was taken inside the gift shop.

This is the school house for the little Storrowton Village.





This is the tavern where we ate. It was hot and a bit muggy outside but the inside was really dark and it was just too nice a day to sit in a dark room. Joanne and I had the outside to ourselves. I think the inside would be perfect on a blustery day, sitting by the fireplace!