The Autumn Giraffe, among others...

Autumn days at Shikoku have been super pleasant... 
Cool, dry, and simply heavenly to be outdoors...

Took a shot of our potager today...
The marigolds are still blooming, as are the zinnias...

This dwarf of a flower is called 'wild chrysamthemum'　（野菊）in Japanese... 
They grow so well in our garden, without any attention from us...

The Japanese folks call this flower 'Hototogizu' (ホトトギス）, which is the name of a bird belonging to the cuckoo family... Apparently, the spots of this lily-family flower is similar to the spots on the chest of the bird...

Think this is called Larkdaisy or Porcupine flower.
The Japanese name is Murasaki Rushan （ムラサキルーシャン） or Ringo Azami（リンゴアザミ）...
Leaves emit apple-like smell when rubbed...

This chrysanthemum is endemic to the island of Honshu in Japan... 

It's scientific name is Chrysanthemum pacificum Nakai but I prefer the common name Isogiku (イソギク) meaning, Rocky Shore Chrysanthemum...

 

We enjoy looking at this wild flower in our morning walks... 

Took back home a specimen of this 'Aki no kirin so' （秋の麒麟草）, literally, Autumn Giraffe flower...

Am linking this post to GBBD, which is hosted by May Dreams Gardens...

Marigold, cosmos, zinia...

Even in the cold weather, the marigold plants in the potager still bloom...
They emit a very nice fragrance...
I plant them as 'companions' to the veggies as they are supposed to ward off harmful insects...
Their petals are reported to be edible but we have yet to try them out...

The cosmos plants self-seed in our potager...
They require minimum care...
The one thing that I have to do is to thin out the crowded patches and oohla, I get pretty cosmos all over the garden...

Zinias are also self-seeding in our potager...
I sowed some seeds years ago and like the cosmos, they need minimum care...
We are very happy with these three flowers as they make very good cut flowers as well...
The marigolds especially, last for days and days in the vase...