The cosmos lady

We just had three days of 100 degree weather.  These photos were taken before the heat spell.

Cosmos 'Diablo'.

This year I shared my seedlings and there are three houses up the street with this cosmos blooming.  I am so pleased about that.  Makes me feel like kin to the Lupin Lady, Miss Rumphius.   My neighbor gave me that book some 30 years ago because she said it reminded her of me, always sharing my plants.

Quoted from Amazon

Barbara Cooney's story of Alice Rumphius, who longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful, has a timeless quality that resonates with each new generation. The countless lupines that bloom along the coast of Maine are the legacy of the real Miss Rumphius, the Lupine Lady, who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went. Miss Rumphius

 received the American Book Award in the year of publication.

The heat pretty much finished the bee balm.

The cleomes have too much purple.  My fault.  When I thinned them, I had a strong preference for those with purple tinged leaves.  But there are some later pink ones coming along.