Anyone else think their garden looks a little "worse for wear" in August? Mayhem abounds here. Brought on by ill-planned planting schemes, long (too) hot days, dismal (to no) rainfall, blah, blah, blah. Whatever the cause, this time every year I decide I need to do some major revamping. Then the weather cools and so does my ardor for rearranging. Caught up in bulb planting, not a perennial is moved thus the cycle perpetuates year after year. One day, I will change this about myself & my garden but not this year.
When I'm outside during the heat of the day, everything seems parched and miserable ~ know the look?? Thank goodness for early morning and late afternoon/evening when bright spots can be found mixed among the strugglers. Like the water lily container. An accidental "Monet effect" was created when the pink scaevola, from a neighboring pot, began to cascade over it:
I moved the lilies into the pot a month or so ago hoping an increase in sunlight & warm water temperatures would spur a few blooms. So far, nothing but it's still very pretty to look at, don't you think?
Baby Bullock's orioles are not helping the disorderly appearance either. They bounce from tip to tip across fragile bloom stems (like live little pinballs) breaking prized perennials in their wake. Luckily I adore them else the destruction they leave behind would distress me. Not that it occasionally doesn't ~ as when I found the only stalk of my 'Red Caroline' Delphinium bent in half:
That illicited an "oath" (to put it mildly) but I'm "turning the other cheek" because they are the only Orioles left ~ the adults departed more than a week or so ago. I know any day now they will follow suit. Our usual pattern is that juvenile hummingbirds arrive as the orioles begin migrating & they keep the garden energy alive (and the gardener from being despondent!) Something is amiss this year tho ~ not a single hummingbird has yet been spotted ~ and we're almost a month out from our normal first sighting (anytime from mid-July on.) I hope that changes soon.
August always brings sunflowers, another bright spot. Single stalks are blooming randomly about the garden, volunteers from last season or compliments of the birds:
At least they add some color and interest.
Especially the Burgundy which popped up near last years plants:
They seem impervious to heat, in fact, appearing to relish it. A giant plus. Maybe more sunflowers should go on the list of changes to the August garden?? As well as more phlox. My first stalk of 'David' is now blooming:
and I wonder why I resisted adding a plant (or more) until last year?? The other phlox added (whose name I'll have to look up) resides in the front garden:
where it is quickly becoming overrun by Miscanthus. Another move desperately waiting to be made.... Add that to the list.
Something I AM liking (and so is my dog) are the yew pathways created this spring:
I wish I'd planted them years ago. We both love to walk thru them, first one way then back the other, like they're part of some grand garden or something. Too bad I don't have acres and acres so I could construct a maze. I'm sure that would delight us both.
I'll leave you with one last photo:
that I find appealing (for some unknown reason). I never got around to planting the empty containers but we gardeners are always motivated by next year, aren't we? I'm pretty sure I'll be re-energized by then!
