Maybe I can prolong the life of this one!

The reds planter still has some color -- and a mum I added last week. Maybe I can keep it going on the front porch for a few more weeks? The sun is going south fast and may provide enough light and heat in the afternoon. Stay tuned...

Good-bye planter boxes

Three freezes in a row this weekend will end the growing season. My planters on the deck worked long and hard to keep color and bloom and nectar for the hummers this dry summer. Well, I watered them with two gallons of water per day and used some fertilizer and pruning to keep them going.

Hummingbirds Still Around

September 17 and our pair of hummer are still sipping!

Labor Day Blooms

Another heat wave begins with 90 degrees and increasing humidity. About 4 p.m. I went out to the garden bench to see if I could photograph any butterflies. There was not a single butterfly or bird to be seen or heard. I did see some bees in the Liriope in the shade near the hose reel.  I've been watering with the soaker hose twice a week since rainfall is 5 inches below normal. The planters and hanging baskets have needed water twice a day on some hot days recently. Still, I was able to find some bloom and color this late in the garden season.

Watering for a Friend

I am watering planters and pots for a neighbor and fellow gardener.  I couldn't help notice some of her color combinations and textures this afternoon when I watered her hanging planter.

Fuschia of Campion pops against Lime green of a Hosta.

Lavendar spikes of Liatris blend with pink disks of Echinacea--

and contrast with a pop of yellow

to match the honey bee.

The other worldly shape of Cleome against dark maroon, solid leaves of Bergenia

Maroon Heuchera, paprika Yarrow and a red glass hummingbird feeder

form a triangle composition.

The spherical balls of Globe Thistle in steel blue punctuate spiky, green leaves.

The lemon yellow Hemerocallis, the pink Echinacea 

and pale violet Hosta blooms

could be a watercolor painting!

It's great to experience someone else's garden

and discover all its offerings in color, texture and placement.

First Bouquet of the Summer

It's lovely in the garden, but there's enough blooming now to take some inside too.

Love this time of year.  It's why one gardens!

A Day for Repotting

Irena's Dracaena was outside on the patio. I'm babysitting for the summer.

It was leggy and ugly-looking compared to the lush summer plants all around it.

It looked like a Dr. Seuss tree, but up at the top, I saw a vertical "new plant".

After a quick check online, I saw more possibilities to improve this old houseplant.

I cut the stem segment off on either side of the "new plant".

And stuck it in a pot of soil.

It already looked like a new plant, but my reading online

suggested trimming the leaves also.

'

Then it was time to plant the growing tip.  Method #2:

It was a little curved, but maybe I can straighten it out with some daily turning

of the pot as it faces the light source.

It already looks better in the ceramic pot.

The lower leaves are trimmed.

Third method: cut sections of the stem and 

place in water to root at bottom and sprout at top.  

This should occur in about a month.

Place them all under a plastic bag in bright light.

And let's see what happens?

Some new plants for Irena for winter?

Fourth of July Stroll through the Gardens

It was a day of every kind of weather, but not the threatened rain. The evening has become very pleasant with sun and blue skies and low temperatures.  Time for a stroll through the mid-summer garden...

Starting in front with the urn planter, the hummingbird and a flag

A two-sided Welcome planter on the porch

John and Pinky helped us clean up the cul de sac

yesterday morning.

Coming around the corner of lower Laurel Ridge, you might think

you were on the High Line in NYC if you consider the plants

in the meadow on the hillside.

The meadow just below our home

Campion (pink), yarrow (white), Sweet William (red) and Bird's Foot Trefoil (yellow)

make patterns up close.

Campion (front), Black-eyed Susans, Common Mullein

Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot (ready to bloom, tall center)

Shasta Daisies and Yarrow fill the hillside in clumps.

Queen Anne's Lace blooming

Foxglove still in bloom

Lupines going to seed

Coreopsis

and Black-eyed Susan blooms look like summer sunshine.

And the bees and bugs are still busy even though it's close to sunset.

Back in the front of the house my camera

battery begins to fail.

Down to the patio, from the north side

The Helianthus blooms while the woodpecker awaits a little hand to make it peck.

We ate dinner on the deck.

We should have come down here to the patio.

The fairy garden is just like Lily left it--

with flower offerings.

Bop fixed the broken fairy wings--again!

This fairy awaits you for tea.

Welcome to all fairy-lovers!

I've given the broken, concrete stepping stones I made with Alice

from her large hosta leaves a new life

as fairy patios!

I watched a hummingbird try to get nectar from this table the other day.

Blanket flower truly blankets its spot in the garden.

Hollyhocks fill the corner.

The hydrangea is lush this year.

The Lavender is struggling but the Nepeta or Cat Mint is gigantic--

and filled with bees all day.

Since you can't come sit on my bench in the garden tonight,

I'm glad you could take this tour of a 4th of July garden with me.