Friday, August 28, 2009




August 28th, 2009

Pictures from the garden, taken this evening. Just pictures!



















Lovely parts, but the whole of the garden is badly in need of a general tidying and a selective 'move or remove' program..... What better month than September.....

Monday, August 24, 2009



August 24th, 2009

Here is August. The heat lingers into the last week, but there is an underlying coolness that speaks of fall.

Early in the morning, while the air was still fresh, I gathered up another wheelbarrow full of errant weeds and non-blooming violets. (What are these large violets that grow so voraciously in every nook and cranny)?

Yesterday I pruned the east side of the barn flower as it was leaning heavily to that side and pressing the new growth of delphinium to the ground.

The Canna's increase in bloom each day, and are looking quite spectacular.

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One of my fall garden tasks must be to hunt up some yellow marking tape and tie it on each of the plants that need to be moved next spring, to make more room for its neighbour and give the garden a more civilized look.

I dream of a four foot swath around the outside edge of the garden as home to all these sturdy plants. Charles sees it as a spot for a thriving vegetable garden! He is pleased with the cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers we are enjoying from the garden.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

August 20th, 2009

The days are hot and sultry, - typically August. It is hard on the garden and the beautiful white phlox is looking tired and bedraggled, - even disheveled.

There is a faint and delicate flush of roses, (as opposed to a hearty one) and the Cannas grow more lovely every day.





The first of the asters is in bloom - the bush grows tall and elegant and soon it will be a marvelous purple bar for bees and butterflies. As the sunflowers are for the sweet gold finches that frequent the strip.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Here are the Canna lilies, as promised. Still not in full bloom, but showing promise of being absolutely spectacular.



I walked with Dorothy to the car when she left this morning, but didn't make it back to the house for an hour and a half. There are three quite enormous piles waiting on the driveway for the wheelbarrow to trundle by. The garden is beginning to look less 'jungle-like' (except of course for the barn flowers) The rain was welcome, but very hard on the phlox, and it bent the barn flowers side-ways so that they are leaning precariously atop the delphinium that are putting on tremendous growth right now.

Around the perimeter of the garden where the delphinium have spread, eager for a little space and a view of the meadows, some of them have budded and in a week or so we will have a second flush of lovely pastel bloom.

The nasturtiums remind me of my grandmother's garden where they grew along the pathways. And the chickweed. It grew abundantly under the back 'stoop', cooling the crawl space and making it green and moist and inviting when the afternoons grew hot and sultry.



The delicate pink poppies keep opening their paper thin petals to the hot sun, and are matched by a pretty pink double cosmos, a volunteer from last year.



Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Some delicate fugitive poppies, fancied up a bit for dancing in the gentle breeze.







And a couple of painted ladies, tossing their heads!



The Cannas are just beginning to look like exotic birds, - a picture tomorrow, even if it's raining.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

August 11th, 2009

A great day for taking pictures, - words can't express how much I appreciate the camera I am using, nor the pleasure I have with it, or my thanks.....

Here are some garden pictures taken this morning. Wonderful sky pictures this evening, - I will save them for Skywatch Friday....


















Wednesday, August 5, 2009



The lovely pristine white phlox, - a charming cool spot to temper these hot days.



And here is the barn flower, wildly rampant but gloriously asserting itself in the middle of the garden. Its last year for such shenanigans, - next year it can be glorious off in the background somewhere and I will replace it with a red, red rose.



Miss Callie, who yesterday disgraced herself by bringing a tiny hummingbird into the house in her mouth....... Dorothy says perhaps it was already dead, - Charles questions whether Miss Callie is fast enough for a hummingbird. I just grieve that nature is so red in tooth and claw....