As August Ends

 
August has flown by and the short cool down we had
last week has ended when the hot, hot weather arrived
again this week with highs in the 90’s.
Just for the record this has been a very hot summer
for Ohio.
The cistern has finally ran dry and there is just a little
water left in the rain barrel so if the garden gets watered
it will be from the well water or hopefully we will soon get
some rain.
The flowers are already suffering from this latest hot,
dry spell. It is not any wonder though because this old clay
soil around here is now like cement.
A few die hard geraniums in pots are still going:

 

Rosebud Apple Blossom

Horizon Red Ice

Raspberry Ripple

Gaillardia Mesa Yellow just keeps growing and blooming.

The Blue Clips Bellflower sporadically gets a bloom or two.

The yellow Gerbera is still blooming in its pot on the porch.

 

The pots and containers of Impatiens shrivel
and their heads droop in the afternoon heat.
And the hungry deer ate all of them from the tipsy
pots out at the edge of the garden. Grrr!

Hibiscus Lord Baltimore is still having a few blooms
but its poor leaves at the bottom are full of holes and
turning yellow.

 

The dahlias are still blooming in their pots also but their
bottom leaves are all brown and they are looking terrible.

B  

This silhouette of a Hummingbird perched in the evening shade  was guarding the feeder on the front porch from the other
Hummingbirds. They like to dive bomb anything on the porch
including myself. Soon they will be leaving.

Even the alyssum in the teapot looks sad and is
lacking in blooms.

I can see through the trees that the Crape Myrtle
still has some blooms. It has been just full this summer
and has bloomed its heart out.

 

This ‘ Scentimental’ Rose bloom is representative of
the hot, buggy summer we have had. It is even blushing
pink where it should be white. Poor ravaged thing.

The yellow miniature rose was transplanted into a bigger
container and is loving all the room for its roots and showing
it with a lot of new growth and so many buds.

All of the tall phlox are still getting a few smaller blooms
from the continuous dead heading of them. I am still
spraying to keep down the  mildew on them.
This has been a terrible summer for mildew on the Bee Balm
and the phlox, even phlox that was suppose to be mildew
resistant. This Laura has resisted better than the rest.

The containers would be so terrible looking now but
for the seeded dahlias in them growing to fill them out.
The petunias just need ripped out of them.
The window boxes look the worse this year than I
can ever remember them. Even the geraniums in them
are barely growing at all. The pentas are still blooming
in them but the verbena is yellow.
I can hardly wait to ripe the plants out of them and add
pansies for Fall plantings. That will have to wait until the
weather cools down because the pansies would suffer now.
I hope all of your gardens are fairing better than mine
is right now and…..

Happy Gardening Everyone!!

Lona  H