Today was a cleanup day in the garden. I raked up pecan leaves in the backyard, chopped them up with the lawnmower and transferred the remains to the compost bin. I cut back the maximilian sunflowers which were just dried leaves and stems now and also the eupatorium which is spreading way beyond where I wanted it.

While I worked dogface butterflies danced around the red salvias, while overhead geese were flying south for the winter. It was a grey day but warm. The predicted rain never materialized.

The Echinacea were making a small comeback. I cut the tall stems down long ago and there are just short stems now with a few flowers.