Contributors

Rach

I'm daughter to Lissie, sister to Jess, wife to Brien, mom to Hannah, Lily and Eleanor. I am a stay at home mom to my girls, and my free time is dedicated to gardening (I confess I'm still a novice and look to Lissie and Jess for advice), baking and cooking, and card making. I'm doing my part to make the earth a bit greener, trying hard to avoid processed foods and HFCS, and find the "slow food" movement intriguing and inspiring. I love visits to my local farmers' market, fresh produce, reading, getting out in nature, and spending time with my family.

Jess

Catholic, homeschooler, lover of books and great wine and an amateur gardening addict.

Lissie

I'm Melissa aka "Lissie", mother of Rachael and Jessica, and grandmother to a passel of the sweetest children on the planet. I'm a semi-retired public educator and professor who works from home for a small publisher. I am a lover of all things beautiful ... flowers, the mountains, nature scenes, the innocent faces of children, and my rock and fossil collection, to name a few. I enjoy shopping at the farmers' market for fresh foods and then experimenting with new recipes. Good food and good wine delight me. I love to travel so my suitcase is always packed. Like my daughters, I take pleasure in simple things ... clothes drying on the line, tomatoes so fresh they are still hot from the sun, good books, and interesting movies. I'd like to know everything before I die.
August Garden

As always, the garden is starting to look tired due to the heat, and frankly I am also getting rather tired of going out in the blazing sun to care for it.  I've been watering, pinching back here and there but for the most part we've definitely entered the wild and wooly days of late summer.  The catmint and agastache are desperate to be cut back hard and my Westerland roses are out of control.  It is going to take a ladder at this point to prune and when I get around to it in late September, I am going to prune them back significantly.

There are a few plants that are still putting on a pretty good show and they are always troopers for me.

Sedum, it is just coming into its own right now. 



Blushing Bride Hydrangea, I prefer the soft blue so I keep it more acidic.  The contrast between the blooms that are drying out and those that are newly blooming is very pretty.  


Gold Flame Honeysuckle.  This is my last year for her to live in my garden as she needs more sun and room to grow well.  She's going to my neighbor's house in October but right now she's very lovely and sweet with some pretty blossoms.  


Thank goodness for crape myrtles.  I know they are probably as ubiquitous as Knock Out roses but they are so reliable for being pretty in late summer.  I have all Natchez as I thought white blooms on the trees would be a better neutral backdrop longterm.  



Blue Chip Dwarf Buddleia.  This has been a big surprise for me this year.  Last year I planted them and they did OK but this year has been amazing.  They required just a tiny bit of pruning in May and they have pumped out pretty purple blooms all summer long with zero maintenance other than being on the drip system.  The hummingbirds, bees, butterflies have loved them and my kids have been fascinated getting a view of all the critters at their eye level.   I got these from Lazy S Farm, they ship plants about as perfectly as one can and they were $9 per quart which is much cheaper than I've seen them anywhere else.  They grow so fast that it doesn't matter if you start with a quart sized in April.  


We have small kids so these pots, which I love, block off a long fall down the cement stairs to the basement.  The coleus, lemongrass and sweet potato vine all love the heat.  


Very pretty purple shade for the drying Blushing Bride blooms.  


 

1 comments:

Rach said...

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to play in your yard while I was there. Something about hobbling along like a lame monkey just didn't appeal. Heck, I've not been able to tour my own yard...:sigh: Your yard, however, is gorgeous. I think you all should move down here so we can help each other with our gardens...;o)





(C) 2010
Blog design by Splendid Sparrow