Steel Magnolia

Just like some people I know who seem to always bloom wherever they are planted, some brave flowers around our home have been thriving in the one-day-warm, next-day-cold autumn this year.  Nestled in between two crimson burning bushes is a brave, little azalea with two yellow blossoms that popped in October.  In Wisconsin, this bush normally blooms in the late spring, but this year, it decided to sprout another round of blossoms in October.  The pink, cinnamony-smelling dianthus that had bloomed in June also decided to stage an encore last month.  So, for a while, we had this strangely lovely commingling of spring/summer blossoms and fall color.  What joy to have had their brave blooming one more time before winter dormancy sets in.