Welcome to one of my Connecticut, zone 6a, gardens on this mid-September day. Today, being the 15th of the month, is when Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and people all over the world get to share and enjoy the garden glory of others.

My addition to this garden party includes shades of maroon, burgundy and pink that stand out among the plantings in one of my gardens.

Colorful globe-shaped gomphrena flowers stand tall and for the most part block fading iris and day lily foliage. They complement this unknown variety of phlox that, to my delight, decided to bloom continuously from mid-summer to now.

Gomphrena also play well with my newest day lily Hemerocallis 'Macbeth' that flowered during mid-summer, then surprised me with September blooms.

Stonecrop sedum, an unknown green-leaved variety, shows off in lighter pink blooms,

and the burgundy-leaved stonecrop sedum 'Maestro' beckons bees with its darker pink blooms.

But this garden's eye-popping star right now comes from the tiny-white blossoms of Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis paniculata).

Close-up shots show each blossom's simple beauty.

Together, they remind me of large but dainty snowflakes gingerly resting atop the leaves and stems.

When view from farther away, the effect is striking … like a rounded mountain-top covered in snow.

This morning's haze was not conducive to a clear photo of these blooms all together, but this is how the garden looked three days ago, just before the clematis burst into full bloom.

The pinks are joined by the low blue blossoms of ageratum, an occasional scabiosa flower, the taller repeat blooms of another phlox (P. paniculata 'Blue Paradise') and touches of white gomphrena. Late summer gardens may not match the color explosions of May gardens, but this color is enough to make me smile as I look out the windows with a morning cup of coffee.

Be sure to follow the link to May Dreams Gardens to take a virtual what's-in-bloom tour of other gardens so you can thoroughly enjoy another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

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