Late Summer Blooms

The roses are making another splash before retiring for a while.  Most of the blooms were blown off in the monsoons last week, but the rock roses shielded by the pony wall in the front survived.

The crepe myrtle self seeded a baby which is currently outshining its parent.

Looking across the driveway to where JannyLou and Fast Eddie used to live, the purple Texas Rangers compete with the Mexican Bird of Paradise for attention. 

The barrel cacti come in all shapes and sizes and colors.  These were the last ones open late this afternoon

Our giant saguaro died a lingering death, 

its smaller arms crashing through branches of its nurse tree, an equally ancient specimen.  

When the situation became dangerous to the tree and those bushes surrounding it, The Handyman brought his tools of destruction and collection and left us with two skeletons 

and a cleaned up front yard.  

Those saguaros are filled with organic material that decomposes over time and enriches the soil.  That material is yellow and nearly solid before it turns black and crumbly.  Some was raked into my yard, but most of it was blown and swept and raked and shoveled away.

We are all set up for a beautiful transition into the Fall.  And yes, we really do have seasons.