Fall Flower Plantings

Wherever I walk, near private homes or public buildings, there are beds of bright flowers, kept colorful by our occasional thunderstorms despite the drought--and, I imagine, by careful hand-watering also.

One little miniature rose bush bore blooms in all stages, from tight buds to fully opened blossoms, their petals shattering and falling in the light breeze.



Their foliage marked these specimens as gaillardias, which are related to sunflowers and very drought-resistant, although one resembles a rose and the other two might be mistaken for daisies or chrysanthemums.







These tiny yellow blooms were bright in the morning sunshine. I felt lucky to capture them with my Canon G2 digital camera's zoom, since each blossom was only about a quarter-inch tall.