Despite Leslie’s recent denial, summer is, indeed, nearly at an end as indicated by my Thursday visit to the Pt. Defiance Rose Garden, where the bloom is definitely off the roses.

Though there are a few delicate beauties still clinging to the vine, the garden is spent and no amount of water poured on it will change that fact. Most of the roses have long since been plucked, and most of those left are drying out rapidly. Even the best of them

are looking stressed.

Luckily for the garden visitor, though, those painted ladies of late summer,

these dahlias, are in full bloom.

Though I’ll have to admit that many of these flaunt their beauty too much for my taste,

the camera lens still finds it difficult to turn away, though I certainly won’t be bringing any of these home.

Big blooms are nice to look at, but at my age I prefer less-demanding, longer-lasting blooms in my own garden.