What else happened:
Hiking in North Carolina - the last of the rhododendrons in bloom
Lots of white in the garden
Discovery that the tithonia was not the Mexican sunflower I remembered, tall and branching, but a lovely but short zinnia-like plant. Had I but known, I would have planted them in a group rather than spacing them throughout the garden, where they look silly.
Also, that these dark dahlias are perfect with the deep red-orange day lilies - just need to move them so they are amongst said lilies next year.