Why some members of Congress are wearing yellow roses today

Gold is one of three colors of the American suffrage movement — along with white and purple, which helped give it instant visual recognition.

Today, some members of the U.S. Congress are wearing yellow roses to mark 100 years since the House of Representatives voted to pass women's suffrage. The right for women to vote became law in 1920.

The gold color represents light and life. It is "the torch that guides our purpose, pure and unswerving," reads "The Suffragist" regarding the gold color. The book was published in 1913.

The color purple was chosen for loyalty and steadfastness. The white was selected as an emblem of purity.

National organizations and state and local groups will be hosting Women's Suffrage Centennial events in 2020 to mark 100 years since the women's right to vote became law. Go here to read more about the 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative.

A few last blooming flowers to admire deep in the heart of Texas

You know the saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans do”? No one said anything about Texas, but since I'm here, I will admire the flowers still blooming and hope when I get back to Iowa there might be a few pansies or mums to carry us into November.

Pansies here planted in the fall may bloom deep into December and January or even later, but come hot weather they take a break, just as they do in Iowa. Yet, they are a rugged plant often taking the first frost without a whimper.

They are annual, but obviously with a strong desire to be perennial, as often they pop up again as one of the first flowers of spring. If you have a patch, looking pretty pitiful right now,throw a few leaves on them and just see if they make it through the winter.

Knockout roses, here in my daughter Becky's Texas backyard, are living up to their name, still producing new buds and blooms and growing taller. I suspect they will be around to hang Christmas lights upon.

Even a first-year planting may grow to the full 3-feet-wide to 3-4 feet high in Iowa ‘s zones 4 and 5. They need little care once they have come back from the Japanese beetle midsummer attack, though a little winter protection of leaves or mulch won't hurt.

If the winter has been wicked, you may need to trim them as low as three inches to get rid of the the die back, but ordinarily a spring pruning to about 15 inches and some rose food will be all they need.

New colors have been added since Knockouts burst onto the rose market and chances are good more research is being done to add to the line.

Another plant still blooming here is Lantana. Not so popular for its spreading, invasive habits, it has a beautiful pink flower with a yellow and white top. Monarch butterflies love it and along with the milkweed it helps renew the population.

Lantana is in the verbena family, and is a great container plant for its dripping, trailing ability. It comes in blue, pink, red, white, and my favorite, a deep purple.

Though we are at the end of our gardening season in the Midwest, this last chance to see some bright, blooming plants has been a bonus before I have to feed my habit with only the spring catalogs.