The number of flowers is now sensibly diminished. Those that flower
newly are nigella, zinnias, polyanthuses, love-apples, mignonette,
capsicums, Michaelmas daisies, auriculus, asters or stars, and
China-asters. The additional trees and shrubs in flower are the
tamarisk, altheas, Venetian sumach, pomegranates, the beautiful
passion-flower, the trumpet flower, and the virgin's bower or clematis,
which is such a quick and handsome climber. But the quantity of fruit is
considerably multiplied, especially that of pears, peaches, apricots,
and grapes. And if the little delicate white flowers have at last
withdrawn from the hot sun, the wastes, marshes, and woods are dressed
in the luxuriant attire of ferns and heaths, with all their varieties of
green, purple, and gold. A piece of waste land, especially where the
ground is broken up into little inequalities, as Hampstead-heath, for
instance, is now a most bright as well as picturesque object; all the
ground, which is in light, giving the sun, as it were, gold for gold.
Mignonette, intended to flower in winter, should now be planted in pots,
and have the benefit of a warm situation. Seedlings in pots should have
the morning sunshine, and annuals in pots be frequently watered.

In the middle of this month, the young goldfinch broods appear, lapwings
congregate, thistle-down floats, and birds resume their spring songs:--a
little afterwards flies abound in windows, linnets congregate, and bulls
make their shrill autumnal bellowing; and towards the end the beech tree
turns yellow,--the first symptom of approaching autumn.[1]

[1] _The Months_.

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