'Til Next Year

Summer on its way out, many of my long-blooming gems are still going. The plant budget dried up, so I'm working on tolerating the gaps, rather than running out to fill them. Looking at this thumbnail, the pink rocks near the Hybrid Crane's Bill need to go. I'm digging the blues in the background, warm colors up front, and threads of gold throughout. One can't go wrong limiting the palette to primaries.

Greyish Green and Gold

Lately the combination of greyish green and gold in my garden is captivating, especially in the late afternoon. A cascade of Chrysothamnus nauseosus var. nauseosus, spreading mound of Gutierrezia sarothrae, and Artemesia filifolia and A. arborescens shimmer in the late summer light. Here, Agave parryi v. neomexicana (with Agave parryi truncata and Chrysothamnus in the background) will soon show off its reddish tips from beneath our first fall snow.