My last mystery plant

Turns out this mystery plant is Katie's Ruellia. A dwarf of the common Ruellia which I also have. Here is some good information about it. http://www.jaycjayc.com/ruellia-brittoniana-katie-dwarf-purple/

I found a great website, finegardening.com, where you can post a 'what is this?' picture. Some of the folks were very helpful and sent me in the right directions. I will use that resource more.

Argiope aurantia

We seem to have an abundance of spiders around the yard. I try to keep them off the porch, but I know that spiders have an important place in the garden. There are two large spiders, agripoe aurantia, at the lamp post in the front, where my moon flower is.

Here is another mystery plant. It bloomed in August, but I'm just now posting the picture. The woman who sold it to us said it was a Mexican Violet, but I can't find that plant in any book. Pretty little plant, rather bushy and close to the ground, growing in partial shade.

Tea Olive time

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could embed fragrance in a blog? The Tea Olive bush (Osmanthus frangrans) is not an impressive shrub. It has tiny white flowers in late spring and again in late summer. But what a marvelous fragrance! You can drive around town, or walk down any street in west Raleigh right now, and smell this wonderful scent. My tea olive bushes are small, and I hope to keep them from getting too large.

I also have a hollyhock blooming. I've been trying to get them to grow for three years, with no success. They did beautifully at our last house. I don't know why they have done so poorly here. But, here is the first bloom.

What is this?

I try very hard to note the names of everything I plant. Once in a while I miss something. This beautiful purple plant is one. I think it is in the aster family, but I can't find a name! I will take a cutting to work, where hopefully another gardener will know what it is. It certainly is beautiful, with small clusters of flowers and mint like leaves.

The other plant, with the fuchsia and yellow flowers is a four o'clock. I swore I would never grow these again! At our last house I was constantly digging up the invasive tubers. But, on the south side of our house the soil is bad and I decided to plant things that would need very little attention. The four o'clock are doing well, but not being very invasive.

We are having delightfully cool weather right now. Rare for early September, but I hope that we can do some significant yard work on Monday after a quick trip to Asheville for the Labor Day weekend.

I found it! Actually one of my coworkers knew. This is Ageratum houstonianum, sometimes called bluemink. It is an annual, re-seeder. I have no idea where it came from. Perhaps it was a donation from a nice bird.