The September cycle of roses has arrived.
It’s a good day to step out and appreciate what I’ve got here with my dear wife Karen in our home in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Syracuse.
In the hourglass front-yard garden, the roses are celebrating September with another cycle of blossoms.
Pink and white, side by side.
The violet peeking out belongs to a succulent.
Out back, spreading purple Polish Spirit.
In the backyard butterfly garden, meanwhile, one of this summer’s new additions is making a late-season burst.
Karen purchased through mail order this spring a clematis because she was drawn, in part, by its more familiar name: Polish Spirit. And now the purple spreader appears to be feeling more at home along the border fence and with its neighboring plants.
Short, stocky and sturdy.
One of those good neighbors is the shortest, widest of our four butterfly bushes. While I’ve given plenty of photo time to its three more statuesque cousins, this solid specimen is still plentifully adorned in its blossoms, fully deserving of its day in the blog spotlight.
What’s coming out in September in the gardens of your hometown? Are there any plants or flowers named after your ethnic heritage? What are your favorite things about this month?
Mark Bialczak 
I love the Spring, Easter time, a time of new hope. September for me is ‘goodbye’. The summer ends and my children return to school or leave for college. It will also be forever linked to the death of my friends young boy Daniel.
However, despite all that, as someone who loves gardening, I love the surprise that is September. Many gardens fade away, but September flowers have actually so much to offer.
Maybe in a few years time when we all move on from our current sadness, September can be something different.
I loved your positivity in this post.
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I hope you can reclaim September as something more positive in your life, too, Tric. It is tough when the kids are going away, with the memory of the loss of your friends’ dear Daniel, I am sure. The years, they do march by, though. My little girl, she’s 24 and out of college three years now. Oh, my.
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No clue about the flowers in my area but the plants on my mini manse deck are thriving! I do love getting mums when September rolls around and the crispness in the air as fall creeps in.
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OK, CBXB, Mum’s the word. I just could not help myself there.
I bet Ted and New Cat love the thriving plants on the deck of the mini-manse, don’t they?! 🙂
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Oh they think they thrive on the plants!!!
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Those are gorgeous! I am loving this month because we have finally had a little dip in temperature…It’s now only in the upper 80s at night. I’m hoping that means we’ll have a cold winter. (And yes, I’m being serious.) I just love your yard! How’s the skunk banishing coming along?
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I’m glad you have some cooling off, Rachel. Blessed relief! No skunks in the yard, just stink from the perimeter.
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Oh no! 😦 I was actually impressed tonight when I went out at 9:30 and it was down to 77! Fall is in the air! 🙂
Have you ever heard of “Pure Citrus” spray? It smells of orange. (The other smells stink and smell fake.) It is VERY strong, however, so if you get the smell inside, do NOT spray it liberally like Lysol… just a TINY squirt will make it smell like orange blossoms inside for hours. Too much and you’ll gag. (Of course hopefully, you’ll never need to use it indoors!)
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I’ll see about it. The skunk smell is fading, thankfully. But still here, a week later. Unbelievable with all the work Karen has done in the house.
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Oh that stinks. (Figuratively.)
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I think September is one of the most beautiful months of the year. The colors are still dark green, but other shades of green are everywhere, yellow is peeking out, orange is not quite in hiding any more….there’s such a hint of summer life and fall to come. 🙂 Thanks Mark.
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Yes, it is a pretty month of transition, Colleen, colors and temperatures. 🙂
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Fall kind of sets my heart on fire Mark. I feel more alive with it. I think the flowers that bloom in late summer/fall are the best!
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They have my heart, too, Colleen. ❤
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I find your description of that bush funny, Mark. A fine looking September beauty, I’d say.
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It is short and stocky!
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Yes, and quite stunning!
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Succulent is very pretty. The butterfly bush is nice and full.
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Thanks, Kim. I hope you are feeling well this mid-September.
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We do not have September flowers in Minnesota! Though farmers’ markets at at their best with corn, bell peppers, eggplant, beans, etc. Am heading over this afternoon 🙂 What do I like about this month? Am going to play the mom card and say it’s sending my kiddos back to school. Finally, a few hours in each weekday to call my own.
Seconding what other folks have said about your fantastico ability to find beauty. You and Karen (assuming this about Karen only because she is your lady) are lovely folk 🙂
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Enjoy the farmer’s market veggies, Liz. My dear wife Karen is a farmer’s market regular, scoring what catches her eye as freshest picks. Zucchini bread is a favorite of her’s, too. They have a Tuesday farmer’s market all season long at Clinton Square, downtown, two blocks from where she works. NIce, huh? (And she is lovely folk!)
Enjoy your newly gained weekday couple of hours with the kiddos going back to school, Liz. With my newly gained weekday hours today, I sent out a cover letter and resume, and tackled a porch screen door project that’s been nibbling at me all summer. Done in one afternoon! Now I am going to the last week of the Tuesday post-work golf league that I had to resign from when I got that eight-week job. They invited me back after the news. My friends rock.
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Our gardens in the “dirty south” had a little reprieve this year due to a cool and wet July. By now we are usually crunchy and brown, but my honeysuckle, maypops, and roses are scenting my yard nicely. I love being able to sit in the garden and just centering in the morning, it moves my day forward in a more positive way.
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I like the idea of you centering yourself in your garden in the morning, dear sister-in-law. Someday we have to do that together again, huh? …
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I’ll tell you what’s coming out Mark. It snowed! The boughs of the trees are bent under the weight of snow. Sunday I was wearing shorts and at a barbecue party. The next day temperatures plunged from the 70s to the freezing mark!
By the weekend it supposed to come nearer to average temps again for this time of year. Ugh!
Diana xo
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Holy moley. Measurable snow already. You do live in Canada, don’t you, my friend. I’ll keep repeating. Alberta is beautiful in the summer. Alberta is beautiful in the summer … Oh, Diana. 😦
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Our first snow is usually the end of October. It’s still summer for Pete’s sake! They say warmer weather by the weekend though… 😀
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Good. Let it get back to the norm and stay that way until October for you, for goodness sake, Diana! 🙂
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Polish Spirit is apropos for you. Clematis sounds like a spinster church secretary anyway. Watching flowers bloom is always a sign of hope, isn’t it? I always feel happier when we have flowers in a vase in the kitchen. And even happier if they don’t die the next day. How pretty these pictures are!
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Yes, Polish Spirit is the way to go on the name thing, for sure, Kerbey. I am feeling hopeful today at least. You keep those vase flowers alive for two days, please, my friend. Did you hear that you’re supposed to put water in with the flowers, too? 🙂 Hey, I’m off to play golf and take some pictures out there. Yay.
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I put water AND flower food. Hmph!
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🙂
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Plants and their flowers have a little magic in them.
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Soothing, calming. It is special, Dora. Good call for you!
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I love when rose bushes get their “second wind” and bloom once more this time of year. Same with Camellias.
I love violas and pansies (when they aren’t yellow LOL) because they survive in the snow. This is the time of year I especially wish I worked in a garden center or in landscaping (strange as that may sound)
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That working wish doesn’t sound strange at all, Jeanette. Hands in the dirt, nose in the blooms. How wonderful that could be, my friend. No yellow though. 🙂
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It indulges a few of my loves: color, art (in nature) and gardening.
Yellow is just overdone 🙂
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mark, i love these beautiful pictures, but most of all i love your beautiful spirit and show of gratitude for all you have, even in the light of the challenges you have right now. )
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And I have power, in all of the definitions, Beth. Thank you!
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Ann’s right on Mark – beautiful spirit. I read your post and thought: this makes a statement to me, it creates positive feelings, the words and pictures are in the same realm – they’re impactful. I went back through the post a number of times and couldn’t quite get a handle on how you had done it- all I knew was that it said, in few words, so much more than most posts. So, I checked the comments, saw Ann’s and thought: that is exactly right, it has “spirit” somehow. Still not quite understanding why, I flipped thru Ann’s link to see what she had up.And there it was – her last post she listed a bunch of emotions and then random pictures taken by scanning around her yesterday. That’s exactly what you had done, Mark, you had used the words in your post to create emotions – your words went right through my intellect, which processes most written content, and targetted my emotions. Very impactful, very permanent, very real.
In 173 words, you accessed my emotional world and made a positive impact. Impressive Mark.
Oh, and Good Morning! 😀
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Good morning, Paul, and I love the way you processed the way I think AND feel as I write. I look at my world as I take the pictures and then I look at the pictures to feel it again and then I choose my words for those emotions very carefully. And you got it all, right there in your comment. My friend Paul. 🙂 Smart man, so observant.
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Beautiful spirit in this post, Mark. Many thanks.
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I put my polish on it, Ann. Thank you.
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