Signs of Summer Survive The Fall

Philadelphia (CBS) - Purple Verbena, pink Phlox, geraniums – even a few petunias still blooming. A few summer flowers have held on into November and their bright colors stand out all the more for all the dead brown detritus around them.

A stray clematis flower is stunning in the sunlight. One tomato plant insists on making flowers and fruit – how they'll taste, I don't know, but I don't have the heart to yank it out if it wants to keep trying. It's a volunteer that planted itself beside the patio where the sun on the nearby stones helps warm the soil – so that might explain its longevity. But maybe some plants are just hardier. Or simply showoffs. And others could turn out to be sports that become new frost-hardy varieties.

Whatever the reason, when I have to be wrapped up in fleece just to face the garden on a frosty fall morning, it's highly satisfying to find summer flowers still flourishing.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio