Time to smell the flowers

As we gear up for whatever the fall brings each of us, this long weekend is a time to appreciate what a summer of good weather has done to our surroundings. Unlike last year, which was hot and very, very dry, we have had moderate temperatures and just enough sprinklings of rain to keep the grass green and most plants reasonably healthy. As I pass people's gardens on my walks, I notice big healthy vegetables, apples, plums and figs. And I can never resist taking photos of the interesting or just plain beautiful flowers I spot. Here are pictures from some of my latest wanderings:

Two big pots of geraniums perched on a stone wall are a classically beautiful combination of colour and texture. Don't you  feel like walking in through that iron gate to see what else is in the garden?

I've noticed a trend toward  vegetables, fruit and flowers being grown together, often on boulevards or in front gardens once reserved for display. Here, apples hang over a front-yard flower garden. 

A great big pot of purple-and-white fuchsias, with petunias and some daisies peeking out. This is at the entrance to Argyll community garden in West Vancouver, where garden plots are full of  flowers and fat vegetables.

Such a strange window box display in this new Kerrisdale home. Pink flowers above and a wave of something yellowish green trailing down. I'm not sure what any of it is, but it made me stop and look.

Nestled among the fall flowers on a boulevard in the Dunbar area, an orange pumpkin -- or maybe a squash -- peeks out. 

I don't know what these flowers are, but their arrangement on a series of horizontal strings between fence posts is unusual. The fact that they end at a very healthy palm tree makes the display even more eye-catching. 

Purple flowers and silver grasses give this grouping an almost ethereal feeling. Behind it is a grey stone wall.

You can see I'm a sucker for silver grasses. Peach-coloured dahlias combined with the grass and lavender make an interesting show of colours and textures.

White picket fences add something to any flower display; I notice how often they seem to feature in my flower pictures. This is a pretty bunch of petunias and other late-summer flowers along a Dunbar fence.

Most interesting are these strange flowers at its base. They look like sea plants with their wavy contortions, but I have no idea what they are. 

Another look at these odd plants -- bottle brushes with magenta tips?

Buddleia (purple), rudbeckia (yellow), dried allium (the ball) and verbena angustifolia (the see-through purple-blue stuff at the back).  I  think I have the right names for everything in this photo. 

Brugmansia, or angel's trumpet is blooming at this time of year. They are beautiful but toxic -- I would never grow them with a child or a pet around.

A happy burst of late-blooming roses, with a pink plume of something else sticking out. I'm not sure what it is. 

This garden features lavender and grasses, with verbena angustifolia prominent along the walkways and walls. It's purple and airy, adding lightness to all the concrete behind it.

I couldn't resist this modest but well-kept display of  dahlias along the sidewalk. 

My own little tower of sweet peas. 

Japanese anemones are all over the place right now. Here, their purple blooms contrast nicely with the black-eyed susans beneath.

Black-eyed susans and grasses -- a combination that's hard to beat, especially when there's a weathered wooden fence in the background.