Last of Summer Blooms

8/17/14

crepe myrtle

   



 While we were gone on vacation, there was a lot of activity in the garden and yard. The crepe myrtle tree bloomed just as we left.  The side and back yard gardens are lush with blooms.  Here are photos of blooms in the side garden.

black-eyed susan

     The rudbeckia, or black-eyed susan flowers, are doing well despite being eaten after emerging.

butterfly bush

     The butterfly bush has filled out nicely after suffering severe winter damage.

zinnias

     The zinnias, one of my favorite flowers, are gorgeous.  I plant seeds every year so I can have fresh cut flowers in the house.

cosmos

     In the back garden, the cosmos that reseeded have taken over about a quarter of the garden.

vinca

     Some vinca from last summer that also reseeded showed up in a few places.

loriope

     Some of my loriope plants have started to flower.

impatiens

     I couldn't resist showing another photo of the beautiful standard impatiens in one of my patio pots.


     The Yoshino cherry trees all over the neighborhood have lost more than half their leaves.  Isn't it a little early for that?  The acorns started dropping off the oaks a week ago.  There is a hint of fall in the weather.  We have had temps in the 50's at night and 70's and low 80's during the day for the last two weeks.  And it is only mid-August. The local meteorologist said our temps have been below average 45% of the time this summer.  I hope this doesn't mean we are going to have a bitterly cold winter like last year. 

Zinnias and More

8/19/13

zinnias

     The zinnias I planted from seed have finally started blooming!  I am so glad I planted them on June 2, even though it was a late planting.

cosmos

     The cosmos in the back yard that I planted at the same time as the zinnias are coming along.  One bud is just appearing on the tallest stem.

hardy begonias

Japanese anemones

     Also in the back yard garden, my fall flowers, hardy begonias and Japanese anemones have started blooming.

lavender

     The lavender is in full bloom in the side garden.

marigolds

     The bees just love the marigolds.

reseeded marigolds

     When I cut some of the spent blooms off the marigolds, I threw some of them on the ground in the empty spaces in the garden.  The seeds took root and now more marigold plants are coming up.

tiger swallowtail

spicebush swallowtail

     In the last two weeks I have noticed more butterflies in the garden.  We have had such cloudy, cool, fall-like weather in the last week.  Temperatures did not get out of the 70's during the day, and at night went down in the 50's.  I want summer back for a few more weeks.

Garden Problems

9/6/11
    

zinnias

     While I was gone on vacation for a week, my zinnias developed a problem.  The leaves and stems have turned brown.  When I inspected them, I found small white insects.  I have been very lucky that I have had very few problems during all my gardening years, so I am not familiar with many pests.  I researched several pests on the internet, and my best guess is mealy bugs.  I used a hard water spray to dislodge them, and if that is not enough, I may use a rubbing alcohol and water spray, or a dish detergent and alcohol spray. 

mealy bugs?

     A second problem is that my purple fountain grasses are not looking their best.  They were planted last summer and did well.  I pruned them to 8 inches at the beginning of spring.  They grew nicely.  But sometime in July the seed heads turned completely white.  And then a few weeks later, half of them lost their seed heads and all of them lost their purple color and are now completely green.  So now I have these 4 foot clumps of green grass.  Help!  I have no idea what has happened.  What can I do to get their purple color back, and why did half of them lose their seed heads?

purple fountain grass last summer

seed heads turned white



lost seed heads and turned green



Slow Garden, Slow Home

Celosia and Vinca

7/1/11
     With the continued heat things are really slowing down in the garden.  This extremely uncomfortable week started with 117 F (47C), went down to 115 F (46C) for two days, and then dropped to 113 F (45C).  My reliable summer bloomers - roses, celosia, and vinca - are doing fine.  The zinnias and the moss rose are doing ok so far.  But my cosmos are fading fast, and some of the marigolds don't look good.  Everything else has died or stopped blooming for the summer.  I have found that if you water at least twice per day, you can keep some flowers alive here in the summer.  I tried with my petunias.  They will stay green and produce a few blossoms, but they won't be vigorous and full of flowers.

Zinnias

But I don't want to spend the extra effort and water when other plants will do much better in the heat.  Even flowers that can take the heat have to be watered daily in summer as opposed to three times a week the rest of the year. We get about eight inches of rain a year.  The last time we had rain was in March. I don't do much in the garden now, except to prune dead blooms or pull out dead plants.  So I have a slow garden, but what I'd like is a slow home.

     The slow home movement, inspired by the slow food movement, is a philosophy of home design that emphasizes livability and sustainability.  To me that means a home that is easy to live in and works for me.  It could mean different designs for different family needs.  Slow homes eliminate little annoyances that are irritating or stressful.  Some of these annoyances would include:  bathrooms that open directly into living areas, an entry area without a closet or place to put stuff (keys, mail, backpacks, purses), indoor areas without good daylight, bedrooms without adequate closet space, bathrooms without sufficient counter space, rooms with wasted space.  Slow homes have a smaller footprint, reduce unnecessary energy consumption, and incorporate green building principles.  The slow home movement will grow because consumers will tire of the products builders are turning out:  cookie cutter houses with extravagant features and square footage that are costly and difficult to live in.  It is all about good design.

Dying Cosmos