Fall's Floral Post Cards

 

I finally had some time the other day to get outside and actually enjoy some fall colors and stuff around me.  Fall comes last to our lake front shores, so we usually have to drive a few miles south of here to experience it sooner.  However, I did have a patch of these beautiful zinnias and marigolds that really screamed "fall" to me." Yes, they're not asters and mums, but during this season their colors take center stage in the garden.

  
These Persian Carpet flowers fool you at first in to thinking they are marigolds, but are actually a unique variety of zinnias.  So cool, and actually they reseeded themselves from last year.  They are only about 12 inches tall and come in all colors and markings.  If you don't have a friend that grows these for seeds, you can find them here.

I called these marigolds "naturalized" because they reseeded themselves and came back in all different ways.  The original seeds were hybrid marigolds, bred for a certain coloring and small size, but when they reseed they start to return to their wild ancestors and grow tall and bushy. I liked all the different paint splotches of color on the petals.

 

The petals of these marigolds look like crushed velvet...lovely!

 

 These "Mysotis" or perennial "Forget-Me-Nots" in their lavender purple color look like icing on a cake.  Their delicate petals lend a soft and soothing backdrop to the bolder colors of red, yellow and orange. I planted these once and they come back vigorously year after year.  You'll want to give them room in the garden.

The random fall frosts show their telling signs with wilted petals, but still leave the flower heads with lots of visual interest.  The lavender color of this Mysotis is still strong, but the browns behind it lend an overall designer touch.

Just a few  floral "postcards" for you to enjoy.  It's amazing how fall can show up in a small patch of reseeded marigolds and zinnias...I guess it's all perspective!  Blessings!

Enjoy the photos?  You may be interested in these other posts...Flower photos in the Rain and Amazing Butterflies.

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Flower Photos in the Rain...

It's always good to get a different perspective.  We tend to view life from one way of seeing things, and I think we end up missing out on other stuff because of this tunnel vision we have at times.  This hit me one day while it was raining outside.  I realized we have no problems seeing beauty in life around us while every day is sunny, but when the rains come; can we still see the beauty?  This led me outside to my little front patio.  It's just a small little nook, but I have it filled with flowers as a visual retreat for me and others.   But I noticed something while it was raining...

I noticed that everything was pretty darn amazing!  I mean, the rain brought out the colors of the leaves and flowers, and everything looked so lush...

It all looked clean and refreshed.  The pavement color was richer in color too...a nice short-lived makeover without any work on my part.

The leaves of these coleus were all glistening and shiny...just like Christmas in September!  You could really see the richness of the colors and it's beauty.

So real.  So wet.  So beautiful.

Even the rain drops on the plant were beautiful.  

A totally different perspective.  Seeing beauty during the rain; in the middle of it, (I was trying to get pictures before I got soaked!) and realizing that even on dark, rainy days, life is beautiful.  It takes rain to bring out true loveliness.

It's just learning how to see it through a different lens...

Hope you're able to see the beauty on all your rainy days...blessings!

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