This may feel a little premature, but as we round the corner on August I'm getting that vibe ... the 'winds of change' are just around the corner! Now, first of all - I don't think I have some special extrasensory perception...
...and this isn't a political blog, quoting famous political speeches from 1960. But I will bogart a good phrase when I can!
Last week I felt like I had gotten stuck in the movie "Groundhog Day". Every morning I woke up, it was like the same friggin' day! Hot, humid, 90's... get ready for work, drive with A/C blasting, get out of the truck and have your breath get caught because you felt like you were breathing through molasses.
But yesterday - the world tilted just a little bit, and I realized the Autumn is on its way! Now, I'm not saying the weather has changed -
yet, but it's imminent. The extended forecast for next week has IL slipping into the lower 80's (possibly high 70's by the end of the week). We packed up our 'oldest' for another year at college. And then there's the garden.... which is starting to make 'noises' of 'end of summer'.
My Stella D'Oro daylilies started re-blooming....
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| "Stella" - waiting to bloom again! |
The Rudibeckia is still in bloom-heaven.... (they will be on my list for next spring - to add to the front garden for some late season interest).
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| Special thanks to my buddy Lizz for tripling the size of my Rudibeckia area! |
The Berri-Magic Holly is preparing for fall - and feeding the local bird population, by 'berrying up'.
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| Berri-Magic Holly - as berries are starting to ripen |
Some of my annuals look like they are on steroids! They are flipping HUGE! (By the way, I am a convert to "Miracle Grow - Moisture Control" potting soil. I've never had potted plants go as crazy, growing so large - especially in the heat of the 'summer of 2010'.)
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Persian Shield, Licorice and "Blackie" Sweet Potato Vine
Sitting in 2 pots if you can believe it? |
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Wizards Magic Coleus - 5x's it's original size
And, the single most interesting 'new development' as of today.... the $3 potted Mums I bought from Lowes last year, and plugged into the end of my front garden - are getting blooms?!? I seriously hadn't even thought that they would come back this summer - it was an impulse buy last fall, to extend the 'blooming' season in my fledgling gardens. |
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| "Bonus"! -- Alexis Garden Mum - back for round 2 |
Other 'findings' in my garden walk-about today:
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"Mixed" Cosmos
One of the surviving plants from a full flat |
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| Sonic Sweet Purple New Guinea Impatiens |
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Paprika Yarrow
Late Season preparation |
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"Renegade" Pansies!
I have no idea where these guys came from !?! |
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PJM Rhododendron
Looking stout at the end of the summer - here's hoping for spring!!
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And the Sugar Maple is recovering quickly from the "Cotton Maple Scale" it suffered from this year. If you haven't heard of it, but have seen this suspicious looking 'foreign matter' on your Maple trees - beware, it can take down a healthy tree in a couple of years
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"Cottony Maple Scale" - infested the entire tree this year
(The parasite feeds on the maple sap. Ewwwww!!): |
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A healthier Sugar Maple - today, 8/21/10
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So, it's 'all good' in this neighborhood. My mind is starting to come out from the summer fog and I am scheming on next year's changes and additions (currently from the comfort of the air conditioning!). I hope all is good in your garden!
Here's hoping your garden has a good fall. I bet it will if you have blooming mums.
ReplyDeleteI love Cosmos. They are one of my faves!
We are still stuck in the summer rut of high heat and high humidity, but once in a while there's a hint of a cool breeze. I am so ready for autumn!
ReplyDeleteI am glad your sugar maple recovered. Your mums look like they will put on a good show, and your cosmos is so pretty!
Hi Shyrlene! Just as you are getting those first teensy hints of autumn, I've seen the first tiny leaf start to unfurl on one of our Japanese maples today. Meanwhile it is truly bucketing with icy cold rain and driving wind at the moment, so it is kind of the same effect in reverse!
ReplyDeleteI love autumn.. the only problem with it is that winter follows..
ReplyDeleteShyrlene, I'm impressed by how much you still have going on in your garden after this challenging summer. Last night, as I watched the weather report in southern PA for the first time in 15 months, I was struck by how regional definitions of different types of weather are. Before I left Maine, the meteorologist was celebrating the arrival of cooler, dryer air and the departure (finally!) of all that horrible hot and sticky stuff -- temps near 90F and dewpoints in the mid-upper 60s. The PA meterologist last night was celebrating the same thing -- no more of that humid, sticky air; now the air is cooler and drier with dewpoints down in the mid 60s! Since I tend to have the Maine standard of what constitutes hot and sticky, I'm relieved to have missed the earlier stuff. I'm a Mainer; I love both autumn and winter. -Jean
ReplyDeleteHey, Shyrlene! Yes, it's just around the corner now. I, for one, am looking forward to it. Not winter, but a nice fall would be wonderful. It's been so hot that I think everyone is done with it!
ReplyDeleteRosey - thanks! I'm a Cosmos 'junkie'.
ReplyDeleteDeb - Here's to Autumn! (woohoo) I was pretty freaked out about the Sugar Maple, those 'things' were everywhere - glad they are mostly gone. But then the flowers make up for the 'ugly'. :)
Heidi - I love hearing what's going on in OZ! How cool you are going into spring! (except that icy raining thing - uck!)
IF - thanks for stopping in for a visit!
Jean - I was thinking a field trip to the Morton Arboretum is in order this fall, with an empty memory card in my digital camera!
Kimberly - this will be my first 'blog winter', so I'm looking forward to reading up on everyone's garden blogs during the 'quieter' months (quieter, unless you are in Australia!).
You nailed it. The world did tilt! I felt it too! Our nights are much cooler and the early evenings are so pleasant... almost cold. Suddenly I'm looking forward to FALL.
ReplyDeleteI was very encouraged by the cooler temperature too, but if it doesn't rain soon, I think I'm going to go insane. Just when the plants looked set to stage a revival, no rain falls. Did this happen last August too?
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