But this one I recognized, although it looks so different from what I usually see. It's culinary rosemary, grown into a shrub. It's an annual here, so it never gets big enough to flower. 
One day, we visited Tlaquepaque, an upscale market area. It's pronounced T-lock-a-pocky, but To-lock-your-pocket would be more accurate because it sure was expensive. Still, it's a gorgeous place and just looking around taking pictures was enough entertainment for me. We didn't actually buy a thing. 
Here I found more common flowers growing, including dahlias and a rose garden. 
Our concierge was invaluable in planning our daily activities. Every place we visited on her recommendation was wonderful! One spot she mentioned was called Crescent Moon ranch. Here we found great views of the Cathedral Rocks where we hiked. See the three V's in the middle of the rocks? We hiked to the the bottom of the V on the right, from the other side. 
Although I'm sure they don't like people carving the trees, it sure did make a nice photo next to the creek.
And I loved this great old cottonwood tree we saw there.
She also told us to to see the great views at Enchantment Resort, so off we went. But there was a guard at the gate, and we had to explain what we were doing there. We simply told him it was a recommendation, and he let us right in. She was certainly right, it was incredibly beautiful there. 
However, the resort we stayed at was very lovely too. 
All too soon it was time to say goodbye to this lovely vacation spot. The final sunset was a good one, and we thought it was a fitting farewell. So long Sedona, hope to see you again someday! 
How could I forget about that lovely night? 
The air was soft, the colors were peaking, and the sunset was wonderful.
I wasn't the only one there to enjoy it. I had guests too, very quiet ones. But they didn't stick around long. 
I remember thinking that it was too late in the season to see the sun actually setting over the pond. But when I got there, I realized I had it backwards. In late fall and winter, the sun actually does set right at the pond! It's summer time when it doesn't. 
I couldn't decide what was prettier, the sunset or the fall colors on the opposite side. 
You decide for yourself.
Same with angelonia, it still looks pretty good. 
Now this is one of my new favorite plants, Apricot Delight Yarrow. It was planted late in the season, and has never been out of bloom. With the weather cooler, it's more pink than the apricot that it's supposed to be. 
It even has buds of new flowers showing. 
The gerber daisy likes to be in the ground instead of the pot where it lived most of the summer. 
Since it's an annual, I thought for sure that my Nigella African Bride would be long gone by this point. Nope, still looks great. 
Gallardia Goblin has never been out of bloom this whole season, and even when the blooms turn to seedheads it's still charming. A real winner in my book. 
Another annual that I thought would be gone by now are my strawflowers. Instead, they bloom and bloom, despite several frosts. 
Finally, the Helenium Mardi Gras look festive for the season in their orange and yellow. I do love the blooms, but hope the plant itself spreads out a bit next year. 
Despite all the flowers still blooming, it is indeed fall as you can see here. This was something quite novel. I had to rake leaves! Now that might not seem novel to most of you, but our new neighborhood has baby trees, and the few leaves that fall just blow away. But after being here for five years, the Bradford pear has grown quite tall and finally needs it's leaves raked. Yes, I'm sure they would have blown away, but I wanted to do a little trash bag composting. So my one lonely bag of leaves will hopefully be turned into black gold by spring. It may only turn out to be a shovelful, but I'll be proud of myself anyway for making my own! 
While fall is usually frosty, we have been enjoying Indian summer here for a few days. It's actually warm, pleasant and sunny. I even broke out the sandals once more. That means I spent hours and hours in the sunshine this weekend, just cleaning out the garden. There are many people who would not consider this a pleasant task, but I certainly do. So while I cleaned up all the plants that succumbed to the frost, it gave me a chance to see what things are still interesting to look at. For instance, the little spotted lamium I planted earlier this summer, has spread like crazy and still has lots of flowers. 
Chocolate Chip ajuga is also spreading out, like it's supposed to, but not nearly as quickly as the lamium. 
I'm finally going to show you what my Endless Summer Hydrangea really looks like. I've often featured the gorgeous multi-colored blooms, while lamenting how bad the foliage looks. Well, now that fall has arrived, and foliage generally does look ratty, I'll give you the true picture. 
Quite a sight, isn't it? How can flowers that pretty come from a plant that hideous? I see a lot of buds, so I hope that next year is a much better time for this plant. For one thing, it needs to grow taller and wider. I also hope I can keep the foliage looking nice next summer because I just love the many colored flowers it put out all season long. 
My foxglove has valiantly continued to put out flowers, even though the first flush was the prettiest. I hope these come back, or reseed, whatever it needs to do. And I want it to spread out a bit more. 
The white delphiniums are still in bloom, without a sign of frost, even if they are laying on the ground. 
And while bright pink pelagoriums would not be my first choice of flower color, these guys have been beautiful all summer long. They were a gift leftover from my niece's wedding shower, and I could not say no to free flowers, even when they are fuchsia. 
These cute little purple alyssum have taken forever to get going from seed. But they sure are pretty now, even if there is only a tiny little patch. I only wish the purple variety would have grown as well as the white ones that have grown into a small shrub. 
As pretty as the seashell cosmos blossoms turned out to be, I'll never grow then again. What a thug it turned out to be, burying the nearby plants. Here's the true story. The frost finally killed them, and out they went. 
The final farewell was bittersweet though, because the flowers themselves are gorgeous. 
But this little corner of regular cosmos is still charming. 
I was quietly taking pictures of them, when I noticed this little guy clinging on for dear life on a very windy day. It's November Mr. Monarch, I'm not sure you'll make it to Mexico at this rate! 
At least my seeded cosmos finally did bloom. I can't say the same for Evening Stock. I mentioned before that they never did bloom. Here is how the plant looks to this very day. Healthy as a horse, without a bloom stalk in sight. Argh! Frost hasn't bothered it a bit. Why must you torture me so? 
However, this is one corner where I wish Jack Frost would come and visit. My passionflower vine is out of control. I do love the flowers, and knew it would be a vigorous vine. If you look closely, you will see two trellises there, the small wooden one it came with, and the iron one I added later. Neither one is sufficient for this crazy plant. I think this is Maypop, which is hardy to this zone, but I'm not sure if that's the right variety. We'll see if it returns come spring. 
There are a lot more blooms out there than I thought, so I'll continue the November garden report on another day.
So come late May and early June, I am rewarded with a rose garden full of blooms. They continue to bloom off and on throughout the summer, but by fall I start saying goodbye. For the last two years, however, this goodbye has been really drawn out. I am still enjoying my roses well into November! Wouldn't you enjoy it if you had Fourth of July in November? 
I don't know whether this is an anomaly or not. I've only gardened here in central Ohio for about three years, so I have no idea if this is normal. It is definitely *not* normal for Michigan where I was used to doing my gardening. Just look at this Garden Party rose in November. 
These photos were all taken on a warm, November day, when roses should be sound asleep. But this Tahitian Sunset is far from sleeping. 
And some change their coloring when it gets chilly. This Funny Face rose is a bright pink when it's hot, but now has faded to a soft pink. 
This Cecile miniature rose has done the opposite. It was a peachy pink in the heat, now mostly just dark pink. 
The yellow of my Knockout rose has faded to a cream color. 
Fall colors are fading fast, so golden tones are mostly what we see. 
Soon we head back into the woods, where we spot a woodpecker playing hide and seek with us. Now my friend has the advantage with her zoom lens, and this is the best I can do to get him on film. 
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