Winding Down

The summer is winding down. We had cool weather this week and it was wonderful. Wayne had cleaned out the zucchini and the cucumbers. The peppers are doing great and we have loads of wonderful tomatoes. We still might have one more meal of beans. Last week we also had a meal with swiss chard. It has been so many years since we had some. I truly enjoyed it and we may get another meal as well.

The hydrangias never bloomed. I am not certain why because they are certainly healthy enough. I'll give them another year before I panic. The roses have made a slight recovery and have a few small blooms. Everything else is gone but the trumpet vines. I need to do more to have blooms in August.

We finally had a couple days with a beautiful moon. I beginning to wonder if two days in August is worth a moon garden.

Update

It was beastly hot and humid this week. We barely poked our heads outside the door. Wayne picked some tomatoes out of the garden but that was about it. Next week should be better so we can get out to see how things are fairing. We've had some rain so the lawn doesn't look so terrible.

Dog Days

Most everything looks bad. I dead headed the hostas and they are heading down hill. The black-eyed susans are still in bloom, but also they are on the fading stage. The zucchini is dying; the cucs are dying. We still have another bean meal, but they are dying too. We only have a couple more onions left in the garden. The one thing that is doing great is the tomatoes--they are ripening and we are enjoying them.

All the roses are losing leaves, but the small Moon Dance that looked like it was dead suddenly came alive in a big way. I have hope that it will grow and bloom this year after all. Out front only the campanulas look good. On the south the althea shrub is still in bloom.

Although our yard has been very beautiful this year, it still seems that it fades by the end of July and there is nothing new in bloom in August. I see that other yards have things blooming, so I need to rethink some plants. I'm digging up the veronica and will look for late blooming plants for the front. In the back we have the water falls garden to plant. I"ll look for something late in the year there too.

One plus, though is that the trumpet vines are still big bloomers. It's almost like they have their own eco system; that there is some flying insect or bird constantly hovering around them. Wayne captured the butterfly in the heading and the humming bird on the camera.

The hydrangeas have not bloomed yet. I'm beginning to wonder about them although they are healthy enough. Perhaps they are just really late bloomers and I've never thought about it before. Still looking for them to bloom.