Mid-August in Deb's Garden
Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 8:40PM Can it be? Summer is slipping around the edges, loosing its intensity, with cool nights and early morns. Humidity is also less, so that even mid-day temps are more tolerable. The garden has taken on a mellow, relaxed atmosphere, hinting of autumn to come. 
Fall colors are beginning to show in these Japanese maple leaves.
Lets start a tour of the mid-August garden with images taken in and around the front garden:
This trail leads from the patio steps, with the hydrangea walk on one side and the arbor garden on the other.
This trail leads from the jasmine arch by the patio. It borders the main part of the front garden.
This image shows the upper part of the hydrangea walk. 
The burford holly is laden with berries, which will turn red later in the season.
A couple of loving bugs on the holly.There are a couple of things to note inside the front garden. First, the voodoo lily has grown tremendously this summer. In the pot, it reaches well over five feet tall. Another thing is that I have eliminated the invasive liriope that once grew in abundance on both sides of this path. Since this photo was taken, I have planted about three dozen foxglove plants in this area, pass-alongs from a dear friend. A variety of other plants will also grow here.
Trail inside the front garden.
The first image in the collage below shows liriope growing around the base of a tree in the lower front lawn. This is easily controlled with a lawn mower:
Clockwise from top left: Liriope; Crepe myrtle; Variegated fatsia japonica; Easy-to-grow mushrooms!
More photos from the front garden:
A close look at the center of this orange hibiscus.
Some images taken inside the woodland garden:
Finally, a view of the sky, so typical this month. I am thankful for abundant rain.
Sky before a summer thunderstormI hope you enjoyed the tour. Can you feel a new season coming?
Reader Comments (22)
Oh, you have a voodoo lily! I have wanted one for ages, but with a small garden I can’t seem to take the plunge and get one – I am afraid the smell is going to make me throw the plant out as soon as it flowers. Has yours flowered yet?
I haven’t noticed a change in the season yet over here, it is still summer in London and although we had 2 days of very welcome rain we are now back to no rain for the foreseeable future. Back to watering every evening I think :-)
Your garden looks cool and inviting, Deb. I wish I could feel fall coming here. I can see it in your photos on your side of the country but summer here has only ramped up the heat (we hit 103F today). There is more and more news that El Nino is coming - it's now being called a "Godzilla El Nino," sparking concerns that it will spur floods and mudslides, especially in the areas struck by fire. I'm still looking forward to the rain that El Nino should bring us beginning this fall but I hope California is prepared for the downside of those storms.
I can definitely feel the coming of a new season. We notice it first in the way the light changes, and then the air & the more frequent rain. I get really melancholy at the end of summer, but not because I love summer, really... strange isn't it, how we people work.
Your voodoo lily is something else! My, how it's grown. Loved the walk through your mellow August garden. xo
Love those mushrooms. :) I don't think of lirope as invasive. It has a difficult time growing here. At least the mini version does. I have tried to get it to grow around a tree for years. Still waiting for it to spread. It must be your abundant rain that makes all grow so good and look so healthy. Happy GBBD
My Liriope is just sitting in the woodland, doing nothing! It hardly ever flowers and doesn't increase at all, I don't know what I'm not doing that I should be!
I enjoyed my wander through your garden, but then I always do! You have so much lovely texture and colour in your foliage and your Crepe Myrtle is gorgeous!
Hello, everyone! I hope you all have a great week, and thank you for your comments. Helene, yes, the voodoo plant bloomed for the first time this year, and it does smell rotten. It surprised me, and I wrote a post about it here: http://debsgarden.squarespace.com/journal/2015/3/7/my-voodoo-lily-is-blooming.html . Deb
I notice leaves changing color on things like Dogwood and Sassafras. Fall creeps in insidiously, unlike winter that suddenly blows in from the north.
Ah, I remember now, I read it on your post before, just forgotten about it! I keep seeing the Voodoo lily advertised here by several catalogues, and none of them say what the flowers smell like – which is rather bad customer service of them I think!! I kind of would like to have one, just for the novelty, but not sure I wold like it to flower….
not yet ... still hoping for more of our winter rain
Your garden looks dreamy Debs. Just beautiful!
Deb, what a treat it was to walk along your lovely woodland paths...just so lovely. What a wonderful garden you have created there. I particularly liked the photo of the path from the jasmine arch...beautiful! I am intrigued about your Foxgloves. Coming from England I just love them. I have seen them blooming abundantly in South Carolina and thought I would try some here in my slightly shadier spots. I grew some from seed and planted them out in the fall. They were magnificent and huge plants and I was quite proud of myself and so excited to see them bloom the following spring. You know what? They never did. Now these lovely clumps have turned to mush. So sad! I will be so interested to see how yours do. Maybe it is just not cold enough here to force them into flower in the spring?
You are so fortunate to be getting the rain. We have been in drought for a few months so when it does rain, it does not do much to hydrate with the ground hard and cracking. I like all the vignettes of ornament in the garden. It shows such an attention to detain and how others can enhance their own woodland experience.
Here the 15th August is a public holiday and it is considered by the Italians "the end of summer"; usually I disagree thinking that for me September is a lovely summer month, but of course the fact that I think it lovely means it isn't so hot! so they are correct. This year it rained a lot of the day on the 16th so yes, I can definitely see that the season is changing. Your woodland looks as wonderful as always, you have created a paradise, I love it.
The joy I get walking through your garden is such an amazing gift...I take that same walk now 2 to 3 times in my own garden each day to enjoy the summer before it becomes fall. I try to spend a least a little time on the porch swing just breathing it all in and savoring it. If I could bottle it and pass it out to those too busy for such pleasures I would make that my mission.
It is nice for a change to have rain in August. I hope you are getting some too. Your photos are great!
I do feel a new season coming, but I'm not ready for it. Your garden seems so lush and green. That holly must be quite a sight when the berries turn red - does it attract birds?
Hi Jason, yes, the Burford holly is amazing when the berries turn red. It does attract birds, though they wait till late in the season when the berries are fully ripened to their taste, I guess. Then they quickly strip the holly of its berries. The shrub also offers shelter through the winter and a good place for birds to build their nests come spring. Deb
Just when we thought we could feel fall in the air, summer arrived with a vengeance! The heat here made me enjoy your cool, green garden paths all the more.
I never get tired of your walkthroughs :) We have had a strange August here in Malta. Usually rain in August is unheard of, this year we had three thunderstorms and quite a bit of rain already. It's a blessing really, because after two or three dry months, the gardens here take a break but it does wreak havoc with agriculture, particularly since end of August is usually grape harvest time.
I just love your walk with the birdhouses. So pretty! Even with the late summer heat, there are definitely signs of fall. I feel like this summer just flew by!
I can tell that you've had abundant rain, because your property is so green and lush! I always welcome the rain. We had an overabundance earlier this summer, then we got a little dry, but now we are more normal. Dry for a week, then pouring rain, then dry for a week, etc.
I thought it was coming and there are a few signs but the heat is back here.....your garden is a feast for the eyes and heart...wow. Always a pleasure to tour your amazing garden Deb.