Autumn Colors on a rainy day in Americus

To some, it might be a dreary day in Americus, Georgia. But, on a closer look, it is a beautiful autumn day at the Americus Garden Inn. I took this photo earlier today from the front gate. The sasanqua is in full bloom and the crepe myrtles are gorgeous this year. Remember, you can click on any photo for a larger view.This is the view from the parking area behind the house. The purple queen is, well, purple. The red rocket crepe myrtles turned a beautiful orange. However, the rain caused most of the leaves to drop making it appear that the trees has "melted".
One of the crepe myrtles in front of the house.

The Chinese flame tree still has the "pom poms" but the leaves at the top of the tree are now a bright yellow.

The holly berries are starting to turn red.

The nandina berries are already bright red like cranberries.

Every day, the oakleaf hydrangea shows more color.

One of our oak trees.

A view of the parrotia leaves up close.

From the distance, the parrotia tree looks orange.

The pistache tree has just started turning.

A fragrant gardenia has appeared by the porch entrance.

Today, the knockout roses are truly knockouts!

By the porch entrance, a single pink bud has emerged.

One of the two varieties of sasanqua in front of the house.

A close up of the other variety of sasanqua, from the bush in the front of the house in the first photo of this post.

It is hard to believe that we have been here since 2002. In the years we have been here, this is the prettiest autumn we have seen. Wish you were here enjoying it with us.

Is it really Fall in Americus?

When you take a walk outside, you can see signs of autumn all around. The leaves of the tulip poplar are turning yellow.Although the pecans are not quite ready, some have started falling from the trees.
The parrotia tree has started to turn orange, but, only on the side that faces west.

Some of the nandina bushes are full of red berries.

Almost everyone asks us about this plant. It is a "false cypress".

Although the crepe myrtle trees still have flowers, the leaves have begun to change.

One of my favorite flowers of the season, the Confederate rose.

You might think that fall would bring cooler weather. Well, I just looked at the thermometer on the porch. In the shade, it is 88 degrees! No wonder the butterflies are still around.

Thank you for allowing me to share my day with you. Hope you are having a Happy Day.

Berries, Bees, and Buds

It rained last night and when I wandered the garden this morning I realized the nandina are covered with berries. (Remember to click on the photos to enlarge.)

There was this beautiful cauliflower mushroom growing on the stump by the school house. Last year we had one that became enormous. From what I have read, it may be edible. Don't worry. I won't be serving it for breakfast. The Mexican petunias responded to the rain by blooming profusely.

The hollies by the pond are loaded with berries, too.

We have 2 fig trees in our garden. The Celeste fig is the one that had the figeater beetles all over the fruit. There are only a few immature figs left on the tree. The other tree is a brown turkey fig, which I photographed today.

If you look closely you can see that it is full of figs and, so far, there are no beetles.

The vitex tree is like a bee magnet. We have watched the bees fall asleep on the branches, but, never have I seen them fighting over one particular bloom. One of the bees was ready to challenge me - see the bee in the center of the photo hovering!

Now, see it on the left. There were 4 bees fighting over these flowers.

In this photo, they are jockeying for position.

And then, all was quiet. It was really interesting to watch.

Thumbelina (one of the neighbor's cats) brought us a lubber grasshopper as a present. I regifted the lubber to the spider in the sago palm. You can see that she has wrapped the "present" - she is in the center and the lubber is below her.

I looked more closely and saw something familiar in the web (remember to click to enlarge).

In an earlier blog post I had mentioned the egg cases on one of the sago palms. Well, now I know who they belong to.

I went over to the pond to check on the tadpoles and was greeted by this dragonfly doing a headstand.

Then, I saw there were 2 others behaving in a similar fashion. Must have been gymnastics time.

We have had many guests ask what the identity of the plant below is. It is "purple queen", with purple foliage and light pink flowers.

The oleander is blooming through the canna lilies and is offset by the white crepe myrtle.

Through all the heat we have had, the Mickey Mouse plants continue to thrive and add a splash of color to the garden.

A lot of the flower beds could use some dead-heading, but, when it is so hot outside, I just can't go out there. This bed of black-eyed Susans is in full bloom.

To finish, a beautiful water lily from the pond.

I hope you enjoyed the garden tour for today. We would love to share it with you in person. Wishing you a beautiful day.

Buds, Berries and a Dragonfly

This dragonfly insisted on posing for me. You can see its sweet face. Here is the side view.

The vitex tree is full of buds.
I was looking at the nandina buds and realized there were clusters of bright red berries hidden in the foliage.

The oakleaf hydrangea blossoms have started to change color from white to pink.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this photo of the sago palm which had just shown signs of life.

Can you believe this is the same sago palm today?

Absolutely unbelievable!

Wishing you a fabulous day.