A Bouquet for the Theotokos

Last night, I was pouting that NOTHING in my flower garden was blooming. It's all perennials, too, but the bulbs are all long gone and the mums are still tightly buds. No flowering weeds, even. Well, this morning I went out looking for anything and everything with a flower. Lo and behold, we apparently still have more sunflowers coming up! I had thought they were all into the big, ugly, seed-producing stage, but there was a second crop in amongst their stems. Rose of Sharon is also blooming - I resisted the temptation to pick from the Baptist church's bushes, but some bird helpfully planted one lonely Rose of Sharon on our side of the drive. For greenery, I put in some wild grape leaves and a chunk of Spanish needles - a loathsome, horrid plant, but quite pretty and ferny before it sprouts "needles". Think, poor man's wild-growing floral filler.
Next year, I'll plan on having sunflowers that are still small and pretty in August - I'll do a planting once a month, starting as soon as it's warm enough, and I should have a variety from which to choose. And I'll get a tall, slender vase instead of a short, squat one, so as to show them off better.
I hope everyone is having a blessed Feast of the Dormition!