Garden Glimpses

Garden lore says that if the first week of August brings very hot weather, then the coming winter will be a hard one. Well, it was pretty hot last week and it got a lot worse this week. In fact, this weather is brings back memories of the summer just three years ago where we had over a month of 90 degree days all in a row with no relief in the form of rain or cool breezes in sight until somewhere into the end of September.

Right now, the easiest, most enjoyable tasks, like watering the outside pots and urns, has become daunting and just plain time consuming at best. Turning the hose on myself is fleeting, not to mention a shock to my system in this heat and humidity but, it does keep me energized enough to remember to also water the tomato plants and pumpkin vines in the garden at the back of the property. More on this, later...

Through it all, the gardens seem to be handling this hot weather a lot better than me and they definitely look a lot better than they have in recent summers. All that rain and cooler than average temps up front in the spring that seem to be playing havoc with this year's tomato crop at least helped to sustain and even bolster most everything else on these "Dog Days" of August. The cockscomb is the biggest I've ever seen it. The petunias are in full throttle as are the "Black-eyed Susans" and, the Franklinia Tree is blooming. The pumpkin vines are going to town, spreading out and offering up tasty blooms for the wild life so we are in a constant state of alert. Summer color here is everywhere to be seen here. Zinnias, dahlias, marigolds, sunflowers trillium, bee balm, cosmos, Spanish flag and so much more like this weather! Go figure...