I prefer the time of year when nature stops striving and starts to tire and droop.  Beautiful.  I wonder if I feel the same about human age: People who have made it past (most of) the heat and showy blossoms of summer do, in my view, seem more attractive.

What surprised me, as looked at these photos after uploading them, is how much latent PINK I have in my yard.  In 1999, when I started to figure out what we would plant here, I told my gardener friend Colleen, who was helping me, that it was the one color I wanted to avoid.  “I like yellow, orange, red — the brights.” Interestingly, though, over time the yard has developed into a show of mostly green and white, with spots of summer color here and there, which all burnish into pink as it fades in October.

And I have come to love this past-its-prime color. “Pink” doesn’t do it justice.