Wildflower Wednesday and the Next to the Last Bloomin' Tuesday for the Season

I have mostly foliage to show for this month's Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail, of Clay and Limestone.  

The first ones I'm showing are in the new front yard area where the tree used to be.  I am excited to see how these plants grow and do next year.

When I cut back the gomphrena plants, I accidentally cut most of the wild quinine seed heads.  I brought them in and put them in a vase.  I'm glad some of the dried blooms are still there.

The Culver's Root has some new blooms that I hadn't noticed until I went to take the photo.

I was not able to catch the ray of light that made this clump of little bluestem shine the other evening.  It was beautiful!  Next year, it should be taller, and the three in this area should put on quite a show.  One of them may be something else, though.  I got it from a different place, and it is looking different.

Rudbeckia Maxima:

The prairie smoke geums I divided and placed around all are doing well.  There are some other small natives around and about that I am hoping do well in the spring.  I think I'm ready for spring right now.

Some of the liatris plants are trying to put on a few new blooms.

This is a new discovery that I am excited about.  It's called pussytoes.  It's an Antennaria of some kind.
 

The next couple of plants are in the curb bed.  I've had this black eyed Susan for awhile.  I don't remember if it's a native one, or 'Goldstrum'.

The ironweed looks good to me dried and dead looking.  I wonder if birds will eat the seeds.

This is the threadleaf ironweed, growing in the bed on the east side of the back yard.  I wish I could remember where I got it so I could see if I could get some more.  I am reading a book on native plants, and found out this will probably get taller next year.  I'm thinking it has a tap root, so it wouldn't be a good idea to try to move it.  I want some in the front!

The lead plant looks OK so far.  I planted one on the far west side of the front yard, and I will have to be patient until it gets to a larger size.

Eupatorium 'Prairie Jewel':

Some kind of mountain mint:

When I went to get Gail's link I saw she had a post on switchgrass, so I went and found a photo of 2 of mine that I put in this spring as tiny little starts.  I wonder what they will look like next year.  These are 'Prairie Wind'.  I have a total of 5 switchgrass plants, 4 different kinds.  I got them after Gail suggested they would be good plants for my new planting area.  Thanks, Gail!  I love them, and you did a better job photographing yours than I've been able to so far.

Maybe there are enough blooms to also participate in Jean's Bloomin' Tuesday.  I hope you all are having a great week.  The cold temps are on their way back to our area.

It's Not Winter Yet

I need to do some research on what a killing freeze actually means.  It got down to the lower 20s F. the last couple of nights, but not all of the annuals have succumbed.  Most of the perennials can take freezing temps, but at some point, they can't take it, either.  I went around assessing the damage with my camera today, and ended up exporting lots of photos again.

The red salvias around the yard did not survive.

I don't remember the beauty berry bushes being sensitive to the cold, but the leaves still look pretty wilted.

The zinnias are finished.  I need to collect some seeds.

I am sad to see the lantanas did not make it.

More zinnias:

Dead pentas:

I picked as many green tomatoes as I thought we'd use.  I'm sad to see these looking so pathetic.

The gomphrena blooms look OK even though the stems don't.  Maybe that's because they can be dried.  I did get some dried, but there were way more than I could use.

The straw flowers have survived so far.

The salvia 'Black and Blue' have damage, but are still alive.

The cosmos have both dead and living stems and blooms.

I need to see about digging up the dahlias.

Lisianthus  is a perennial in zones 8 to 10.  They still look pretty good, as do the nasturtiums.

I planted 2 more wild quinines this summer, but I think the squirrels may have dug one of them out.

The snapdragons are not ready for winter.

I think this painted lady was trying to keep warm.

It was nice to see a skipper, too.

While I was out today, I went across the street to where I have more garden space, and took photos for a different post.  I always take photos of our yard on my way back, and decided to include these.   My home vegetable garden is on the north side of the garage, behind the fence.

South of the driveway, is our shed and back of the house.  The flowers are on the east side of the property.

Some closer views:

I'm going to show the rest of my walk around the yard without much commentary.  

 

You can see the bench in the newest planting area across the sidewalk, behind Heidi.

This mum planted last fall has not bloomed yet.

The sweet potato vines are finished for the season.

I could probably cut the milkweed back now.

The next 5 photos were actually taken later in the afternoon, when I had decided to include all the front beds in this post.   There was some shade by then.

We are expected to have highs in the 60s and 70s for a few days, with lows in the 40s.  I am not ready to pull out the dead annuals.  I could take the herbs and some of the houseplants back outside, but I'm enjoying them inside, and I don't want to end up bringing them back in while it's cold out again.  Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying fall.

The reason I was home today, was because I started treatment for pink eye yesterday.  It was still bothering me today, so the only thing I did outside was take these photos.  I hope to go out a little bit yet after supper, but am afraid of it getting more irritated.  Have you had this?  Do you know if I should wait until the eye heals before spending any time in the garden?  I should have called the doctor's office today to ask.  Why didn't I think of that until now?  I did do a search on it, but did not find the answer.