I’m fast approaching that time in the late summer garden when I stop caring quite so much. As the month turns to August and the light changes ever subtly and parts of the garden are starting to look a wee bit tired, I pull back from the whole thing. Self-protection? Just plain tired of pulling weeds? Probably a little of both. I did yank some weeds the other day for all of two minutes, but that was it.
I still check for daily changes. I await more morning glories. I snap photos. I water the pots and the chicken wire fence garden. But I don’t do a whole lot of cleaning up. Too much energy that I simply cannot summon up. I liken it to pulling away in a relationship; you know it’s going to go south, and your instincts kick in as you create some distance between you and the object of your adoration.
I let many of the plants go to seed, and nothing is cut back or pruned. The birds need those plants, for seeds and shelter. I’ll cut them back next spring.
I did summon up the energy to repot the hens and chicks that are on the Funky Patio. They were overgrowing their original container. They needed more space.
This one will come indoors with me for the winter.
This black swallowtail was enamored of the geraniums, but his wings were fluttering so quickly that it was hard to get a picture. This is the best of the bunch. I love these beauties. At one point yesterday, there was an Eastern Swallowtail and a Black Swallowtail circling each other, swooping, soaring, and (I suspect) competing for the tastiest blossoms.
Don: Don’t Read Any Further!
I grabbed some time yesterday to paint and install two more windows in the Top Secret Project.
These windows also open and can swing in or out.
This will give you a hint as to the color I’m going to use on the outside walls. Yes, it’s reminiscent of our real-life shed. It was Don’s idea to paint the shed red, so his studio is going to be in the same color range.
Happy Friday.
Happy Weekend Claudia! I know what you mean about gardening. Even though my husband really does all the gardening, I feel it in my bones too. We sit more on the patio and move around a little less. We enjoy the shifting light and just watching the birds, butterflies and various other creatures come and go. It is peaceful which is exactly what I need come August. Your top secret project is coming along nicely. It is going to be a beauty!!
You’re right – peaceful is what we need right about now!
I know what you mean about the garden. Late summer just seems to time to let it go and enjoy what’s left. I love butterfly photos but they can be so tricky to get a good shot. I need to repot my Hens and Chicks also. So much to do, so little time.
hugs,
Linda
I hope the hens and chicks like their new home – we’ll see!
Oh Claudia, my thoughts exactly on the garden! I carry my camera out almost daily but now have to position the camera more carefully to not show all the spots where I’ve given up…weeds, overgrown honeysuckle that is once again taking over, areas that are too dense and need thinning out, or the two huge bags of mulch still tucked in the corner unopened. It feels overwhelming and I’d rather just sit on my deck and soak up the sun. I hope you, Don and Scout all have a lovely weekend.
I have two extra bags of mulch, too – sitting right next to the big garden bed! I have to avoid them when I shoot photos!
My new garden should be planted in a month or two, so I’m looking forward to end of summer/early fall gardening. I know the plants will stay wee for a while but come Spring….look out! It will be so much better to look at my new strolling garden than the patch of dirt that was the lawn. I’m hoping the plants will attract and feed and shelter butterflies and hummingbirds. One hummer nested successfully in my side garden this past Spring. Hope I see her again.
Being completely ignorant of miniature builds, of what materials are the walls and windows (frame and “glass”, made? Red is my favorite color and I love red sheds.
I just a hummer this morning. She had an iridescent green body. Beautiful.
This particular dollhouse has walls and floor made of MDF. But the windows are made of wood and the ‘glass’ is acrylic.
Oh, a red hued shed will be lovely! :D
Thank you, Brae. There’s something very cheery about that color!
Good morning Claudia! Well, we’ve had ALOT of garden changes this year. We finally tore off the tiny deck in the back and poured a concrete patio….we are LOVING the space but of course, I went crazy with a garden around the entire patio. We also put up a privacy fence on one side of our house so my husband is taking the sod up so I can plant more!!! I’ve got a lot coming in September from some catalog orders that I hope I plant successfully. So, needless to say, I can relate to your post. I too have many weeds that I’ve been neglecting in the front since we’ve been focusing on the backyard this summer….I LOVE late summer when things just start to slow down but the weather is still gorgeous. Have a wonderful weekend. I LOVE your blog!
You’ve been busy! There is something lovely about slowing down, isn’t there? Thanks for your kind words about the blog.
My wave petunias are beginning to fade a bit and it’s starting to get dark a little earlier, but I don’t want to think too much about what’s in store.
Red is perfect! I can’t actually imagine the studio any other colour. :)
I don’t either. I mentioned fall to Don the other day and he told me to not say that word again!
You summed up my feelings towards my gardens perfectly! My plants are looking stressed…and we’ve had a relatively mild summer. And I’m tired of weeds…I didn’t get my mulch down either…I spent too much time rearranging things, and not enough spreading mulch. That will be my fall project. We’ve been helping one of my sons move these last few weeks…he’s working up north, so he’s only home on weekends. There’s just not enough time to do the things I want to do. Secret project looking good! ;)
I got my mulch down but, for some reason, it didn’t do much good! Maybe I didn’t make the layers thick enough.
At this moment we are getting some beautiful soft rain. It is like diamonds from the sky. We do need it so badly. And the scent in the air is so sweet as it meets the ground.
I do know what you mean about getting ready to leave the garden again too soon. I do think as we get older we feel it a bit more, and we so dread what we know is ahead. But there is time to still enjoy what remains, and to love those glorious Fall days ahead, too. If we could then just skip ahead to Spring after that!! If only……..
I hope some of that rain is headed our way, Chris. We need it vary badly!
Hi Claudia! I recall in my early days of attempting to garden, I thought that “Hen and Chicks” were ugly and therefore, disposable. I have since learned to truly appreciate their Beauty and their Value in every garden I’ve had since . They are like the “soldiers” of my garden and help to keep everything else in check. They look good all-year round, require the minimum of attention, are easily divided and eager to form new troops.
Also,I have never seen a Swallowtail butterfly before and How Beautiful!!! :D
Meanwhile, your red studio looks to be off to a Very Good start! :))
Thank you, Elizabeth! Swallowtails are gorgeous butterflies. They are the butterflies I see most around here. I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll see a Monarch at some time or another. I have lots of milkweed here, but I rarely see a monarch anymore and that worries me. I hope you’re having fun with your Creatin’ Contest project!
Hen and chicks plants always make me smile, and especially this year when I seem to have fallen in love with succulents. So cute!
I really love them, too. The hens and chicks in my front garden bed actually bloom every summer!
I love your “DON” warnings; makes me chuckle! The studio is coming along very nicely! Good job, Claudia! This is fun, to watch it grow. Just like your garden, which tries its best in summer heat. Love your hens & chickens.
Wow, even my succulents are suffering in our intense sun of this August out here in big, bad, drought-ridden SoCal. If I lose one more plant, I am really going to throw a tantrum. Of my newer plants, the hibiscus are now doing the best but, of course, they’re tropical and we are steaming here in what is becoming the usual 90s-humidity, even before noon of a day. As a lifelong Californian, I can certainly remember other years when we never had heat like this, ever. It’d still be cool and foggy at the beach on Labor Day some years. I try to be in the house all afternoon; just stay out of the heat. You’re right. It wilts us, just like the plants.
I literally gasped on an early-morning errand today. Towering, sturdy, ancient oak trees on one of our nicest residential streets in town…planted on both sides of the street to where they lean toward one another and touch to literally make an avenue of trees as you drive under their canopy…trees that have been there my entire life and I’m getting pretty old(!)…are dying; two of them appear totally gone, beyond rescue. It will really change the look of that street where, I should mention, many a film or TV commercial has been filmed. I’d not gone down that street for several months and I was just shocked, but that’s what unprecedented drought does to an area. It made me feel so sad and frustrated.
So, I promptly went to the thrift store to soothe myself (how’s that for an excuse) and got an adorable tabletop sugar server; tiny little thing. Claudia, I always look for egg cups for you but I just NEVER come across any in thrift stores. I guess they can only be found in antique stores but I’ve checked our two and, no (nor do they seem to ever have McCoy).
Seeing a majestic oak suffering in the drought must be heartbreaking. Sometimes, you need a little trip to the thrift store to make your day brighter, Vicki.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who languishes in the heat and humidity of late summer. The last two weeks have been very dry here and combined with temps in the upper 90’s and high humidity, it is all I can do to force myself to go out and water my pots. And of course, the pots really need water right now. Don is going to love your Top Secret Project. You are such a talented person. Try to keep cool. I am in the house embroidering a quilt top. Thank heavens for air conditioning!
We open the windows in the morning and by late morning, we have to turn the A/C on. And so it goes in August.
I need to re-pot some succulents too….I hate to even think that our flowers will soon be leaving us again Claudia…The secret project is looking better all the time…
Oh, I don’t want to think about either, Nancy!