As the summer sun sets into autumn, 
the final rays of the season of warmth and light kiss Mary and her elephant ears. 
The equinoxial garden is looking a bit ragged, 
though the landscape is yet green and vibrant.
Plenty of life and color remain to entertain the gardener. 
The various zinnia patches embrace the season with the zest we have come to expect of them.
Sharing their light and soil
with a wildflower 
or two. 
The woods are ready to emerge back into the light. 
The dense canopy of maple trees has performed brilliantly this summer, protecting the woodland flowers from the harsh sun.
Bloodroot, Queen of the spring forest, has enjoyed the shady summer amidst the trees.
So has the wild ginger.
as has the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, though all that remains of that crafty plant is his stunning seed head.
As we move on from summer, we must give a hearty shout-out for this GREAT DOG, who transformed from to subordinate pup to the dame of the grounds upon the death of her old friend and mentor, Skipper. She took it well. Dogs do.
If we’re calling out the pets, we must also give Ninja Kitty credit for her thousand ridiculous summertime antics, summarized here by a lovely pose in the rhododendron.
Meanwhile, the gourds of Gourdtopia are prepared to fade into the fall 
with the immense satisfaction of having spread so ambitiously, they managed to cover the roof of the playhouse, 
overwhelm the fence, 
and leave behind a stellar crop of curly tendrils 
along with a few handsome gourds.
But don’t be fooled by all of that. The driving goal of the gourd community was to put a strangle hold on the burning bush. In the final days of summer, they finally achieved that lofty goal.
Poppy, the star of the summer bloom season, saved one final show for the equinox.
The nasturtia are on a roll, prepared to bloom right up to the first frost.
All the while playing with the classic autumn bloomer, the mum.
The Rudbeckia family of Gloriosa Daisy and Black-eyed Susan are enjoying a little autumn renaissance 
while playing host to the Praying Mantis family.
The Cannas remain stellar.
The white phlox dances a little jig underneath the elephant ears.
Summer is over yet the garden grows on.
How to best sum up the changing season?
How about this? A photo taken as the sun sets immediately prior to the moment of the technical, geographical equinox. Nasturtium grows wild up over the old stand of Gloriosa Daisy. The symbol of the summer bloom season overwhelmed by a rogue annual growing hell-bent towards the first hard frost.
Close-up, it looks like this.
Yet in the foreground, we see this.
A hopeful sign as we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox. Have a wonderful fall!
In Jim's Garden 
Enchanting post 🙂
Thanks. I hope you like my awesome dog. 🙂
It is all still so lovely. Thanks for letting us enjoy it too.
Yes, the gardens are holding nicely in the face of the changing weather. So far I have not received anything like the early snow you showed us a couple weeks ago. Those huge gorgeous elephant ears would NEVER stand up to such abuse. I’m rooting for the first frost to wait a while here. 🙂
Thank you for walking us through your beautiful garden! Still so beautiful!!
You are most welcome, Amy. Thanks for walking through with me. It is indeed still beautiful and I’m so glad to be able to share. Soon enough we will be plowing out the drive. But we have some beautiful birds who stick around for the winter, so that is something to look forward to. (And I like snow anyhow!) 🙂
I’m so sorry for your loss of Skipper. I always grieve for my pets. as they grieve for each other. I so enjoy your posts and you are an inspirational gardener. Your pets posed so beautifully for you. I had to examine the Ninja Kitty precariously poised on the R. bush, what an acrobat. I love pets in the garden especially cats. Our Feral cat keeps and eye on me when I am out back.
Thanks Joanne. Skipper was a great dog. My buddy. But her time came and she was ready. The touching thing was how the old cat (not shown on this post) began to console her as she declined. Then, after she died, the old cat consoled the younger dog. We’ve always maintained a certain dog/cat harmony, but that was beyond anything I had seen. And yes, Ninja Kitty is precariously poised in that photo. She has a million tricks and employs some of them every day. 🙂
Beautiful garden . . .
Thank you. We have been enjoying some beautiful weather to go along with it. Pretty sweet. Best wishes to you in Finland. I bet you notice quite the weekly variation in light about now, being so far north.
You are right about the weekly variation in light. Yesterday, on my walk with my dog Canelo, was the first time the street lights turned on before we returned back home. First night frost. The grass was white in the morning. But, it’s not winter yet. There are still to be many sunny days with day temperatures about 10 degrees Celsius. Looking forward to see more pics from your garden.
I’m hoping we have a long, long fall. Many trees are quickly changing already though, so it’s hard to say how it might play out.
Yes. A long fall. Dry too, I hope, as we have had ample rain lately. This week we are under a high pressure system which is giving stellar dry, cool weather. I love it. So do the farmers, who are hoping for a dry fall so the bumper crop of corn can properly dry standing in the fields. Have a wonderful week.
Fabulous as always:)
Thank you as always. My pleasure. 🙂
Magic post Jim … I just adore your garden. And your prose. A thousand thanks for sharing with us! I’m so very very sorry to hear about your dog. Thinking of you …
Hi Julie. Thanks. It has been a great summer in my goofy garden. The old dog had her time and now she’s gone. She was my buddy but she was ready when she went. Me too, almost. The young dog bounced right back. Have a wonderful day. 🙂
I have just joined your blog and just love your world’s eye view you have of your garden. Especially the delight of your comical gourds. Here in Mozambique we are just coming into summer and I am taken by how many similar plants are in our gardens. I also enjoy the smiling faces of zinnia which grow all year round here.
Thanks. Year round zinnias? That would be amazing. The blog world has proven very interesting for numerous reasons, one of which is a better sense of what grows where. Some garden plants seem to be popular round the planet. Thank so much for following the blog. I hope you are well entertained henceforth. Cheers. 🙂
Jim, thank you for taking me on a walk through your garden. I enjoyed myself very much! The color is spectacular. So much detail to look at and explore. Would you mind if I decide to paint some of your photos? Marian
Your equinoxial garden is stunning, and I love seeing the jack-in-the-pulpit seed head. Thank you Jim. 🙂
Thank you Jet. I’m glad you liked the seed head. It is most remarkable. They are spread here and there on the forest floor lately. I suppose they are eaten by the birds or squirrels, but maybe not. For now, they just lie on the ground, red against green and brown. Cheers. Have a great day. 🙂
You still have a lot of colors in your garden though it’s autumn. What is the pink flower? It’s very lovely.
The zinnias are the color powerhouse now. Without them, we would most almost all fade. The pink flower shown in the close-up is, I believe, a rose mallow (Lavatera trimestri). It came in a seed blend from the Vermont Wildflower Farm. I have also called it a hollyhock, to which it is very similar. Cheers. 🙂
Still lots of color there! Your dog is a beauty and I can just tell your cat is a character.
Thanks Grower. The dog is a beauty and has become an excellent dog. Good thing. She was a rowdy, unruly pup for a long time. The cat is hilarious, full of antics. Thanks for checking in. Have a wonderful day. 🙂