The Next Shift.

Japanese anemone "Robustissima.", a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

It's so hard to find plants that bloom in the late summer and early fall. Right now we have the sunflowers, the cosmos and the butterfly bushes, in addition to these lovely Japanese anemones. "Moondance" opened its flowerbud all the way this morning...and it's still brown around the edges. Damn! Judging by tiny brown bugs scampering between the petals, I'm guessing that thrips are the culprit. Again. I'm feeling torn about roses right now. I think the flowers are beautiful and I admit I need more variety in my yard...but I'm not used to growing plants that are so prone to pests. Not even the vegetables are this bad. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on "Moondance," because the damage is only noticeable if you move up close. The shrub looks pretty healthy in spite of the damaged flowers. I'm just very, very fed-up that I've had to wait this long for a flower that isn't worth photographing. Maybe I'm just spoiled by peonies. No insect will touch their flowers, except for the ants. Ants don't do any harm, anyway.

I had thought that a shrub rose like "Quietness" would be nice for variety in the front yard. I'm not sure how nice it's going to look if it's bug bait, though. I know that a lot of gardeners do quite well with roses. Compared to even the herbaceous peonies they're quite affordable. I keep asking myself, what makes more sense? Paying $20 for a plant that needs constant nursing and defense from both insects and animals and still might not give you intact flowers? Or dropping almost $100 dollars for a plant that's as tough as nails, resistant to fungus and diseases, and something insects and animals wouldn't touch?

It's the intersectional peonies that cost that much. Apparently, they're the toughest peonies of them all. XD

Gragh! This was a lousy year for tomatoes, too. I think the Fairy Tale Eggplants are great, but the Black Beauty Eggplants haven't given me a single fruit.