Gnats in My Coffee

As I stroll through my garden, I hold a cup of coffee, the sweet kind with additives that are purported to transport one to exotic locations. It is early morning. I am still wearing my pajamas. My husband fusses at me for walking around that way, but who is to see? I am blessed with privacy. The atmosphere is warm and laden with moisture: 100% humidity. I move slowly through the thick air, like a vacationer drifting in a tube down one of those lazy river rides, breathing in the vapors of the surrounding waters.I don't mind the mugginess of a summer morning when a view like this one in the front garden is waiting for me. Above are more midsummer views of the front garden. The shrubs with lavender blooms are a dwarf form of Crepe Myrtle.

The problem with this scenario is the coffee. What nut drinks coffee outside on such a muggy summer morning? Ice water would be more appropriate, but old habits, acquired in a cooler season, are hard to break. And there is another purpose for the coffee. It is difficult to pull weeds while carrying a mug of steaming coffee. Even with one hand free, the danger of spilling hot coffee is too great to be bending over and tugging at offenders near the ground. So the coffee is to keep me on task, which is to enjoy a morning stroll. I want to concentrate on the garden while the birds are active and before the glare of the white hot sun begins to scorch the skin and dazzle the eyes.Assorted coneflowers(echinacea) are blooming in the front garden now.Penelope Rose in the front garden bloomed lavishly earlier this year and is beginning to put out a second flush of flowers.Colorful exotics like Stromanthe 'Tricolor' bring a dash of color to the summer woodland garden.
Top is 'Limelight' Hydrangea, just coming into its summer glory. Below Limelight is Hydrangea 'Lady in Red', fading but still lovely. Its blooms, originally blue in my acid soil, have turned to rose.

The coffee doesn't work. It never does, and I don't know why I retain the silly notion that it might. A weed right there demands my attention. If I wait till later, it will be two feet tall with offsprings of thousands. So I sit my coffee down on a nearby stump. It will only take a moment to yank the weed out of the ground. An hour later I return to the coffee. A pile of weeds, long snaky vines, and clippings from a shrub lay nearby. The coffee is cold, and an assortment of tiny twigs and dead gnats are floating in it. I sigh. I didn't need to drink the stuff anyway. What I do need is a bath. It is time to start the day.

Patterns in the Woodland Garden

White sun may be glaring beyond the trees, washing out the details of summer; but inside the woodland garden, shadows and light create intricate patterns and points of interest. Light shines through the foliage of a Chinese fan palm in the woodland garden. It is one among a handful of palms that can survive the winter in my 8a hardiness zone.It is a mysterious place where I can easily imagine hidden eyes peering out from corners of darkness. It is no coincidence that many fairy tales are set in woodlands.This is a recent photo of the deep green summer woodland garden.

From the above photos, one could think that green is the only color in the woodland garden. That is not far from the truth, but there are spots of other colors, even a few flowers. One must pause along the path to find them; they do not shout for attention.Top: I have long ago forgotten the name of this lily, once an Easter gift. Below the lily are Snowflake Hydrangea and a purple Calla Lily, and at the bottom are a Variegated Hydrangea and a Gardenia. The fragrance of the gardenia bush fills the garden. The subtle color of Snowflake Hydrangea is echoed in the background by a variegated redbud, 'Whitewater'.

Flowers come and go like ethereal mists, but foliage is always the star in the woodland garden. The top photo below is hosta 'Sum and Substance'. The others are seedlings whose parents are Francis Williams and Elegans.

My deep green summer woodland garden is full of little surprises, thanks to an assortment of plants with colorful foliage: 

I always pause to examine their dots and splashes and stripes and frills. The woodland garden is dark and green, but never dull. Happy gardening!