High Summer, Low Precipitation

I've been watering for three weeks for neighbors who are traveling. I have persisted through heat and humidity--and very little rain!  Well, yesterday we had 20 minutes of a downpour that perked up the plants a bit, but mostly ran off the hard-packed earth as demonstrated by the grass on this hillside.  I've been watering the border and it also gets shade in the late afternoon and is, therefore, still green.

Larry put a TreeGator, a slow release watering system, on the Japanese Maple on the cliff.

We'll see how it improves with some TLC.

Larry was out this morning trimming the fence line.  A hot job!

The helianthus love it--and so do bees!

The Campanula or Bell Flowers are out, white and blue.

Bug alert on the day lilies.  I still don't know what they are. I just pick them off.

The Rudbeckia is starting to show up in the Bellis perrenis Daisy clump.

and more bees!

Even though it's dry, the garden is alive 

with sights and sounds and scents.

Reading a New Garden Book

I'm enjoying this Lively book about an 80-year old garden writer's experiences, garden history, fads, and thoughts.  She basically likes to get down in the soil, but misses it due to aging issues like knees that don't work.  I have the same feeling, but can still get down on a gardener's knee pad to do the "green thinking" that she describes so well.  It's not quite meditation because you can fill your mind with plant selection, insect pest solutions, past successes and failures and future plans.  The activity outdoors, though, never fails to ultimately clear your mind and bring on the green thinking of  a garden mediation.

What I'm green thinking about today:

Success: first bloom from the blue balloon flower.

And a first day lily--but what's the matter with the petals?

Oh, a beetle!  Not sure that it's a Japanese beetle. 

Not metallic shiny enough...

I'll need to watch this plant.

I love the coneflower petals just unfurling.

They seem to be late in comparison to others around the neighborhood.

The daisies are blooming too.

I love the contrast against the deep shade below and beyond.

They'll need to be divided next year because they are too close to the A/C unit which had critters living in it this spring.

William's tree will be 10 years old this month.

It was just a sapling from Sara's tree in Wallingford.

And what are the fairies doing today?

The past, the future, the present, the successes, the failures, the solutions.

Fantasy, reality, color, light, texture.

Memories, magic and moments.

Green thinking and total relaxation!

Heat Wave

We're having a heat wave!  We're in the 4th day with no end in sight over the holiday Fourth of July.  We've been watering our plants and those at 3 neighbors too.  I'm water-logged from so much hose wrestling.

In the garden, nothing much is happening.  The plants are just keeping their heads up.  The lilies are about to bloom; the balloon flowers are in bud, and the hydrangea has no blooms visible.  They should all keep their blooms and buds in tight until we get past this heat wave.

The hollyhocks, on the other hand, are just amazing!  They have moved out to the window near the bird bath all by themselves.  They are tall, plentiful stalks and blooming fully.

The perennial sunflower is also magnificent, although it has been wilting mid-day in the sun.

And the zinnias love the heat.  They are ablaze with colorful blooms and many buds.

We all need to hang in there and hope for a break in the heat and humidity.