Inspired in part by the Hive community, I began reclaiming lawn space, building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. We are most of the way through year 5 of this particular garden and this blog.

You may have heard of the curation engine in play named @GardenHive for us Hive green thumbs and I think you should check out the intro post here @gardenhive/gardenhive-introduction-hive-garden-community-curation-account if you haven't yet. Join Hive gardeners like @skylinebuds for creating it and @simplymike for introducing me.

This week, am taking some shots of the stubborn flowers that refuse to give up and sharing my late summer garden with my long-time friend @dswigle.

As I was mowing the lawn for hopefully one of the last few times this year, I paused to think about how much I would rather mow than shovel. Then, I looked to my left and looked at the weathered old blooms on one of the front yard bushes. Far from the soft and vibrant flowers that bloom early. Much less bountiful than the middle of the summer explosion. Just subtle, brave and beautiful buds that you might not even notice.

Part of me feels a little guilty for not even knowing the names of half the varieties of flowers on my humble property. then, I enjoy the bugs that like to visit them and forget all about that.

I suspect these dark pink beauties are petunias planted way back in the spring. They work so well in containers if you fertilize them once a month and make sure they have regular water, like all potted plants.

This gnarly lone survivor is a Jethro Tull https://www.gardenia.net/plant/coreopsis-jethro-tull-tickseed singing Aqualung into the mid-September sky.

This is the last of the orange bugles that bloom on a vine that crawls all over my shed for 5 straight months. I have to shear it back so that it doesn't take over but the pollinators love the perpetual blooms.

These little innocent darlings are part of a host of perennial wildflowers we planted in the butterfly garden at the side of the house. The weird little hummingbird style moths love these.

This is like a humble fireworks display.

flowers are popping out from the strangest corners and plants that are definitely late bloomers.

The very last Black Eyed Susan is raising tribute for a dozen skeletal predecessors.

The Begonias will take their licks of frost and keep popping well through September./ I will have to remember to dig up all the bulbs for winter storage indoors.

Even my hydrangeas hanging on and blooming valiantly. They like the water so much that this blast of rain has brought them out again for one last show.

Marigolds are also great to grow from seed, help with pest control, and drink in the sun all summer long.

This is the last scrawny rose that hangs on late into the season.

Even my little basket of impatiens is pumping out the petals late into September.

These fancy petunias are the gift that keeps on giving...kinda like the garden as it gracefully battles into the autumn. I have a BUNCH of red to show you from the pepper boxes but I may save that one for next week. I will be harvesting all kinds of hot peppers for this weekend when we have the fermentation day with @sequentialvibe. This is going to be painfully hot and delicious so stay tuned!

Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.

Then, blog about it using #gardenjournal and the new #gardenhive tags as we network and curate the journals of other green thumbs, outdoor enthusiasts and fresh whole foodies.