Swamp Daisy's in October

My favorite flower of the season is the Swamp Daisy (Helianthus angustifolius). I had the pleasure of working for a couple who ran a small, local plant nursery for a short time in the mid-2000s. I always wanted to work at a nursery but didn't want to make a big commitment to anyone because it's Florida, it would be hot, I wouldn't last. But I asked if they needed anyone and they said they could use some help in the early morning hand watering the plants that they couldn't reach with the irrigation and they could pay me in plants. I jumped at it the chance. It was a lovely experience. Out in a garden at dawn just watering plants for an hour or two. Just me and the plants and assorted critters. Yep, it was grand. The job didn't last long but while it did, I was introduced to plants that were new to me and learned about them from experts that were happy to share their knowledge with me. My shade garden is kind of wild. Irrigation was necessary this year because of the drought but that is unusual so it is never been swampy and again, it's relatively shady.  It didn't seem an ideal habitat for the typical swamp daisy. The boys assured me that once established they would not need "wet feet" and they were right. The first few years were absolutely grand. They are tall and sparse and they bent over sweetly like they wanted to greet me on the path. Then, one year, I hired help in the yard and they came after the daisy blooms were spent and had fallen over. Naturally they thought they should be cleaned out. I wasn't there to stop them (lesson learned) so can't blame anyone; native plants can look pretty scraggly when they aren't in season. The landscapers also cut back both my yellow native azaleas which broke my heart but few people would recognize native azaleas when they are not in bloom. Fortunately, some of the daisy heads hid well enough that they came back the next year. Not very many at first but they naturally seed themselves and each year there are more. One of my native azaleas came back too but it really suffered. At any rate, I see the daisy's on the side of the road in ditches so I might try to bring some seedheads home and see if they would like to join our family.