Summer Returns

9/1/14
zinnia
     Now that it is September, summer has returned.  It was a very cool August, but now that it is meteorological fall we have a week of above 90 temps.  It was 96 degrees here yesterday.  Why couldn't we have had this in August?  We were at the beach for three days last week, and it was downright cold with temperatures in the 70's and 20 mph winds. 
     Like a lot of other gardeners, I haven't seen many bees, moths and butterflies in June or July, but I have seen more in August.  They love my zinnias.  I saw no monarch caterpillars on the milkweed plants, only one milkweed tussock caterpillar.There is a lot going on in the back yard garden.  Here are some photos of what's blooming.

hosta

     My biggest hosta just opened its flowers this week.  Blooming has been over weeks ago on all the other hostas.

garden angel

     My garden angel is overshadowed by the cosmos that have taken over part of the garden.

cosmos

     The cosmos which are about five feet tall are on the wane now.

zinnias

     I have a nice stand of zinnias in the back yard.  I hadn't originally planned for zinnias in the back garden, but I had seeds I wanted to use up.

Japanese anemones

     One of my favorite fall flowers, Japanese anemones, are flowering now.

hardy begonia

     I love the leaves as well as the flowers of my hardy begonias, which have just started to bloom.

black walnut fruits

         The black walnut tree is full of fruits that will drop in October.

Yoshino cherry

     Almost all of the Yoshino cherry trees in the neighborhood look like this tree in my yard with most of the leaves gone.  I don't know why they are so stressed.

     I am going to enjoy this week of hot weather.  I dread the coming winter after hearing The Old Farmer's Almanac prediction for a colder and snowier than normal winter here in the mid-Atlantic.

6 comments:

  1. I saw some other Yoshino cherries that had dropped their leaves, too. Whatever is affecting them has bypassed mine, which is healthy and well leafed out, thankfully. Are you planning on harvesting the walnuts? Your garden looks great. :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I am not planning on harvesting the walnuts. They are extremely hard to open, and they stain everything .

      Delete
  2. Your garden looks great. Love your zinnias, they're one of my favorite annuals. The black walnuts have already started dropping here, I keep hearing them come down through the trees in the woods below the house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't it kind of early for the walnuts to drop? Are you up in the mountains where it is colder?

      Delete
  3. A black walnut tree and a cherry tree! I thought we had it good having citrus trees. I love cherries and they are in the stores now, but that is one tree that we can't grow this far south in CA, too hot. Speaking of hot, your temperatures are similar to what we are having the last two weeks. This weekend we are heading to close to 100. My poor garden is hanging in there but I am not sure for how long. You have many more flowers in your garden now than I do. The drought here is killing everything. I will come back soon to see some green!
    Carla

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carla. The cherry trees we have in our yard are basically ornamental. They produce a pea-size cherry that the birds will go after. The black walnut tree was here when we moved in, and the walnuts are so hard to open that some people put them on plastic on their driveway and drive over them to open them. We won't be opening them, but leave them for the squirrels to bury.

      Delete