There were two surprises in this September visit: no changing leaf color even though I’d begun to see a little yellow and red in my neighborhood and more flowers blooming than in August.
Here is the tree that that last big peach fuzzy flower grew on:
See it between the two parallel arching foreground branches? I’m glad for my zoom lens. Wouldn’t it be nice if I knew more names of flowers? Guides mention them and there are booklets with some identified. But always there are more flowers than identities.
There is a red rose that they say is in bloom 8 out of 12 months of the year–I’ll have to check on that.
Apparently September is the time to harvest lotus blossoms. There is a lotus boat amid the lotus patch.
The gardener would wade into the “lake” in hip boots to pick the lotus flowers. (Not only is this lake shallow, but the lake in the actual ancient philosopher’s garden would have been shallow as well. These gardens’ purpose is to bring the country into the city.) The boat is not for the gardener but for the harvested lotus flowers.
The remaining pods have their own beauty.
knitNkwilt 
Beautiful pictures and a style of garden that I don’t see in our Cincinnati area.
lovely photos Claire…it’s been too long since I visited this garden, will have to fit it in soon
I love how you are following the garden! It makes me wish I could live there for a year and see it change, too. Thanks for sharing this next-best-thing with us.