Despite the heat and humidity this weekend, this summer has been mostly a mild one - as far as summers go - where I live. Hopefully, this means a mild winter is in store for us, too? ;-) One can only hope.
Potted flowers are still doing beautifully...
Joe Pye Weed - which the bees love, is at its peak in August. Whatever that ground cover is underneath, always starts to brown and dry up in August. We didn't plant that ground cover. It's a volunteer that showed up a couple of summers ago and has really spread.
The bees also love wild onion - an Illinois prairie plant that I have in various places around my yard. It's a wonderful perennial that doesn't require any care and is easily divided.
Phlox is still in all its glory...
as is the purple coneflower...
and the Black-Eyed Susan, all in my butterfly garden.
The purple butterfly bush is in full bloom right now, too but I haven't seen too many butterflies this year, which is really disappointing.
Most of the hostas are done blooming except for this variety in front of my house. I love the delicate white flowers on this variety of hosta.
The poor tiger lilies are past their prime now. They're drying up at the bottoms and all the orange flowers on top of the stalks have dried up and fallen off.
Cherry tomatoes are still producing like mad. I pick a handful every day.
Last week, a neighbor brought me some peaches from her peach trees. I told her I didn't even know that we could grow decent peaches here in the Midwest!
How are the plants and flowers doing where you live?
Have a great weekend!
Some plants are doing well and others are giving up. Your yard looks fantastic though :)
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Birthday, my sweet friend! It sounds like it was wonderful and you deserve it.
Oh and I pinned that tomato sauce. YUM!
xo,
rue
Your garden is so pretty so full of colour. I must admit I only did a few flowers by seed this year and no veg.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next year.
Rosezeeta.
The only flowers looking halfway decent here now are the purslane, which love the heat. My petunias bit the dust two months ago probably, and my cone flowers are looking sad too. Just too hot here.
ReplyDeleteBrenda
It's so nice to see a pretty garden in August. Everything is struggling here in the dry heat. Come October we will start to bloom again just as you are winding down.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is doing really well isn't it Melanie! Everything looks so pretty, and you still have so many beautiful flowers! I am a teeny bit envious of all the colour and beautiful flowers! Hope that the weather is good that you can sit outside and enjoy the efforts of your hard work! xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful garden you have. Greetings!
ReplyDeleteHi Melanie, your gardens are looking beautiful! I wish I could pick a handful of cherry tomatoes every day. I'd probably just stand there next to the plant stuffing my face. I looooove cherry tomatoes. Our plants are doing well here; we've had a wet summer so they've done better than usual. My apple and plum trees produced poorly this year, which was disappointing, but that just happens sometimes. I hope you're having a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is still looking good. We seem to be getting all our summer heat and humidity right here at the end, don't we?
ReplyDeleteYou have such great blooms in your lovely gardens. Love your variety and the colors. Can't grow hostas down this far south, so I'll enjoy yours.
ReplyDeleteI live in a tropical jungle so things bloom year round, including weeds. :-)
Have a great upcoming week ~ FlowerLady
Your flower gardens still look so fresh and pretty, Melanie! In August things start to look a bit tired here...especially since we've had so little rain.
ReplyDeleteMary Alice
Your garden looks great. The flowers are starting to look a bit bedraggled here, especially those in containers. I'm looking forward to taking the geraniums out and replacing them with mums for the fall. The tomato plants are full of tomatoes that are finally starting to ripen, so that's been great!
ReplyDeleteYou have so many beautiful flowers blooming---sometimes we don't plan it but we plant flowers that carry us from month to month. I have Joe Pye weed ,too but it's dark blue in color. A friend said her petunias were droopy and sad, she cut them down and in 2 weeks they were gorgeous. Have you ever done this? Mine are so scraggly.
ReplyDeleteGeesh--this heat is miserable and again, the humidity. I get out in the early morning or late or around five and water (not everyday). I'm okay with it but I feel so bad for my dogs. They become lazy and sad looking without the exercise, but they're not dumb--they know when to hide from the sun and heat.
The wedding was fun---I'll share tomorrow.
Jane x
My garden has been suffering a bit from the heat and no rain.. my phlox are going like crazy but coneflower are spent, it seems like my garden comes in earlier than yours. I have chocolate joe pye weed, the leaves are dark brown and white flowers and bloom more toward fall. Your garden looks so pretty1
ReplyDeleteI just got a great idea from this post.
ReplyDeleteI bought a vintage mirror to use for Joshua's wedding and now it is just sitting in a corner of my garden house. I am going to put it somewhere in the garden.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteYour garden is flourishing beautifully and it is a joy to behold. I think gardens are an extension of our souls-you are so in tune to your garden. You know Texas and of course we are living in a 3rd story apartment so my garden is sweet but tiny! Cheers to your garden and your green thumb!
Jemma
Your garden is still lovely! I think we must have the same hosta with late white blooms as all of our others have finished blooming and this one is just now getting pretty. Wish we had enough sun in this valley to grow all your plants!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, your flowers look so lush and healthy! My gardens look bedragled already, but I haven't spent the time tending them as I should. I didn't know you could grow peaches either. They look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYou have so many beautiful blooms there right now...absolutely stunning!
ReplyDeleteYou have so many beautiful blooms there right now...absolutely stunning!
ReplyDeleteYour mystery groundcover appears to be goutweed, a much hated invasive that is impossible to get rid of. So if you like how it looks, enjoy! LOL Many gardeners despise it, but I have no direct experience with it. Just beware. One lady said Roundup doesn't even kill it.
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