“When some plants die and others grow out of shape, gardeners learn that the fun of real gardening is that it is never pinned down.”
~Robin Lane Fox
Well August has come and gone. I find it a strange time of year when we come to September as it has always signified a return to work, school and fall. But this year, I am not working so it will be a special fall that I hope to enjoy. My garden has certainly grown out of shape this summer, but I am getting some ideas for changes so all is not lost even though I did no work in it all summer.
And our veg garden just started producing the warm weather veggies in mid and late August. So we will have quite a harvest in September. I will update the veg garden at the end of September when I suspect it will be coming to an end.
So as I survey the August garden, I am joining Helen@The Patient Gardener’s Weblog for her End of Month View. Again be forewarned, these journal posts are always long. And as I include a lot of collages in my journal posts, I am linking in with Judith@Lavender Cottage who is hosting Mosaic Monday.
Weather
The full moon in August was spectacular. It rose in the blue hour through the trees and few wispy clouds. The weather in August wasn’t all that spectacular though. Much cooler than normal and lots of fierce storms carrying tons of rain, 7 inches here. The flowers loved the weather, but the veg garden did not. And it is definitely feeling like autumn.
And even though I am not excited to see autumn come already, I will still embrace the days. I am celebrating the coming of the new season and I hope you will join in too. You can read more about it in my Seasonal Celebrations post and at the end of the post.
Garden Views
I am following my front gardens and joining in with Xericstyle who hosts The Wide Shot meme the first of every month. I am looking at my front gardens from inside the house and zooming in from the porch to the middle of the sidewalk. First to the left, on top row, and then to the right in the first picture on the bottom row. The next 2 pictures are viewing the sidewalk gardens from the driveway.
I thought I would have this weeded, mulched and all spiffy, but my back has given me problems…just a residual effect from my hernia surgery, and it is feeling better now so it will be good to finally get out in the garden. I really am chomping at the bit…withdrawals from getting my hands in the dirt and pulling weeds is getting to me.
You can see the weeds between the bricks are back after my sister and BIL pulled them in June when they visited. And the hydrangeas are finally blooming while the echinacea still keeps going. You can see the foliage on many plants turning yellow and declining already.
I thought I would show you part of the back garden from a different vantage point…the right side of the garden from the other side of the fence…or what my neighbor sees. This area actually has bushes underneath all the rudbeckias, Obedient plant, Joe Pye and goldenrod blooming in and around the rain garden near the gazebo. This is what happens when I don’t get to the volunteers for a few years. But it does look pretty and all the pollinators and birds love it as did the momma rabbit who built a nest in here somewhere.
A garlic bed with that 10 foot high sunflower on the left and a patch of parsley now.
Here’s a look at the sunflower now covered with 20 flowers and those are tomatoes just beginning to ripen.
Now down the end of the fence. Lots of rudbeckias, echinacea, Joe Pye and hardy hibiscus.
Speaking of sunflowers here are the volunteers flowering all around the mailbox. Quite a sight to see.
What’s Growing
Non-natives
Fairy roses are blooming again. Actually many roses are blooming a bit again. We have had many spitting out a few blooms here and there all summer.
The bees were buzzing around the ‘Lavender Mist’ Meadow Rue or Thalictrum rochebrunianum.
I love the flower of this dwarf sedum. This grows along the sidewalk and I think I will divide it again and move it to a few more spots.
Natives
This is ‘Invincibelle® Spirit’ Hydrangea arborescens, a cultivar growing in the back garden. It loves the spot I put it in as it continues to bloom all summer.
A few cultivar of the native helenium are growing around the garden although this one was crowded out by monarda. I have the species helenium just starting in the meadow.
A cultivar aster just blooming. Waiting for the taller species asters to start blooming soon.
Pink hardy hibiscus are blooming late this year, but boy are they full of blooms. The top cultivar is ‘Kopper King’ and bottom right is ‘Tie Dye’ both with dinner plate size flowers. The bottom left is a smaller species hardy hibiscus, Hibiscus moscheutos. Speaking of pink flowers in late summer, don’t you love the native pink phlox at the top of the post. Many phlox are continuing to bloom beautifully.
My species elderberry is loaded with fruit that I will leave for the birds. You can see some birds have found them already, but they taste better ripe.
This is Nodding Onion, or Allium cernuum, a great native I hope to profile next year. It grows throughout my front garden, but I want to give it more room and move it to the back and side gardens.
Meadow
No you are not seeing things. The lupines are growing again along with goldenrod and rudbeckia….I have many other flowers blooming again with the crazy hot, cool, wet weather we had all month. But this is the first time my lupines are repeating, in the seven years the meadow has been flowering.
Critters
It has been an amazing August for critter visits. The top left shot is our new young fox. I am writing a whole post about him on Wednesday. He is always finding food. Not sure what he has in his mouth but it is likely a rabbit. Next was an amazing shot of the twins and mom in the meadow. I was lucky to be taking a few shots when one then the other decided to nurse.
Hummers have been plentiful, playful and argumentative over feeders and flower patches. Butterflies continue to visit and we seem to see one monarch a day with a few other butterflies like swallowtails. The woodpeckers returned and share the oriole feeder with hummers and sparrows. And the hawk was a surprise one morning, as he had found a feast and was eating it in the large maple next door. It appears to be a juvenile red-tailed hawk.
And our little baby bunny is growing up….she is such a sweetie. I will be writing more critter posts each month and will tell a few of the stories of our critters pictured here. And this cute bunny who lives in our garden is one of the first after the young fox’s story.
Tree Following
There have been a few subtle changes to the leaves in August, but not much to show so I am combining my tree following post with my journal post. I will have a more in depth look at how the tree has changed in October.
I am linking in with Lucy@Loose and Leafy’s Tree Following meme that happens around the 7th of every month.
Can you see just a hint of yellow on the leaves? In another month you will not believe the changes.
In A Vase On Monday
I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her meme, In a Vase on Monday today. I am also linking in with Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles.
I selected flowers this week that were giving their end of the summer blast or were past blooming….like the dahlia and gladiolus in the first vase with summersweet and hydrangea spent blooms. Love how they go together.
The second vase was a bit of whimsy. I really just grabbed what was catching y eye at the end of August and put them together. I used spent echinacea, and declining Joe Pye, Obedient plant, chocolate mint blooms and Great Burnet. Then to add a bit more fun I added the grass ‘flowers’ just coming out.
So as my August comes to an end, autumn is sneaking around the corner with September. The garden is changing and we are not all happy about that in the Northern hemisphere….but spring is coming on in the Southern hemisphere. I think it is time to celebrate the change coming.
And I hope you will join me in celebrating the new season coming soon to your part of the world.
Just write a post between now and September 21st. Leave a link with your comment on the kick-off post of Seasonal Celebrations-Autumn’s Blessings. I will include your link in my summary post on September 22nd.
I am collaborating with Beth@Plant Postings and her Lessons Learned meme at this same time. What lessons have you learned this past season of summer here in the North and winter in the South. Write a separate post or combine your lessons with your celebrations in one post.
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Visit my new blog:
I wanted to thank all the wonderful people who visited me last Thursday and this past Sunday as I continued to post at my new blog, Living From Happiness. It is a blog to celebrate life, lessons, change, challenges and creativity.
I do hope you will join me there.
There will be a new post again this Thursday.
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Next up on the blog: Wednesday I will have another Wildlife post. And next Monday brings another Vase on Monday post. I am having a blog anniversary next week with a giveaway so I hope you will join me.
I am also joining in I Heart Macro with Laura@Shine The Divine that happens every Saturday.
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