Mid-August in Deb's Garden

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?

Under the Dragon's Breath

July is here with the steamy breath of a dragon. To do any gardening I must wait for clouds to hide the white hot sun. Earlier this week we had a couple of days when I was able to begin a mid-summer spruce-up, pulling weeds and giving plants a dose of my summer tonic, consisting of 2 tbsp. of epsom salts and 2 tbsp. fish emulsion per gallon of water, applied to the soil around the plants. It takes a few days to get through the whole garden, and I did not make it. I wait for the next dip in temperatures. Anything below 90 degrees is close to refreshing.

Here is a tour of my garden that you can enjoy from the comfort of your home. Though a virtual tour is very limited and lacks so much, at least you won't be sweating at the end of it.

I will begin with the front garden, which is very green. The pastel lavender blooms are crape myrtles:

The following image gives a good view of the front lawn and how the garden wraps around it. The woodland garden is located in the little valley on the other side of the driveway, seen in the distance. Lawns get a lot of negative press, but I love our zoysia lawn, which is maintained with organic fertilizers, applied twice a year. The birds love it, too. 

Touring the garden is not just about plants. I caught this Silver Spotted Skipper sipping nectar from our little Tutti-frutti Butterfly Bush, a small sterile shrub that blooms prolifically through the summer, as long as I keep it dead-headed:

These coneflowers are also a favorite of the pollinators, though I did not catch any butterflies or bees visiting them this time:

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' is an outstanding bloomer. I have never been disappointed in this shrub, which grows to about 8 feet. It likes more sun than other hydrangeas. I can see it from my kitchen window, and it gives me a lot of pleasure:

Here are assorted plants growing the large stone planter in front of the house:

More flowers in various places around the garden:Clockwise from top left: Eucomis; Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'; Campanula (Balloon Flower); Indigofera - this is a spring bloomer, but a few flowers persist; Agapanthus; Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan).

Once in a while I have to post a photo of Stump World, a twenty-five year old oak tree stump, which is a world unto itself, providing habitat and nourishment to untold numbers of little critters:

Here is an image from the edge of the woodland garden, looking out onto what I call the lower front lawn, limey green and full of interesting shadows:

And at last a look into the woodland garden, deep green and mysterious, a fascination of leaves of all descriptions:

Blessings to you all!    Deb