Summer Season Is Fading Fast

Tomorrow is the last day of August - that means that summer is almost over and that is sad for me to even contemplate - I do love summer! The other thing about that is that I'm having to toss out quite a few more of my hanging plants (especially petunias) because they are doing so poorly. The Geraniums continue to bloom and look gorgeous and next year those are the only hanging plants I'm going to buy. I know that we still have 6 weeks or so of nice weather and I intend to enjoy every single day of that time because I know that winter will be right on the heels of those gorgeous days.

and again...

Did I mention that my spelling was atrocious? I really do know how to spell the word" actually". I'm signing off now before I make any more blunders.

A Hint Of Fall

We have had some unseasonably cool weather of late and it has been very refreshing. Not that I'm in a hurry to see summer end, I definitely am not. I have to admit, however, that cooler weather seems to appeal to the yard and garden. The intense heat and unrelenting sun took a toll on the annuals this year - they have been looking pretty sad, but the last few days have given them a bit more perkiness. The Bouganvilla is still without its' beautiful blossoms. I have noticed that every summer there is a "dormant" period when the blossoms fade and we have only the leaves to enjoy for a few weeks until new little blossoms spring up again. I'm waiting for that to happen - it is such a cheery and showy plant, I don't want to miss a moment of it. Winter will be here all too soon and all the blossoms and leaves will die. In the meantime, perhaps I'll try "talking to it" and hope that it will respond!

A Jolt Of New Life

Here it is, mid August and my flowers are looking pretty heat-worn and straggly. This is not acceptable because there are still at least another six weeks (how sad that summer has flown by so quickly) in which they should be blooming and looking beautiful. I realized that it had been quite some time since they were fertilized and decided that maybe if I gave them each a shot of the blue water that might bring some new life back to them. I sure hope so because their season is fairly short as it is and I don't want to lose a day of their beauty.

Strangle Hold

In reference to the garden what do you think of when you hear words like strangling, invasive, entangling and choking? There are a lot of weeds that tend to make a lot of work for any gardener but one of the worst for me is the MORNING GLORY. How did that obnoxious weed ever get a title that has "glory" in it? It has found it's way into every flower bed in the yard and crept up and attached itself to dozens of stems in the daisy patch and entangled itself throughout the lilies and the phlox. It is a major pain. I can't seem to rip it out without taking some of my gorgeous flowers with it. Perhaps I let it get too much of a hold before I started noticing it this year but hopefully I've learned a lesson and next year I will make a more valiant attempt to stop it in it's tracks before it spreads like wild fire.