The month of August is when gardens in the temperate zones take a breather.
Below is a section next to the driveway. This is one of the few areas of my yard where something is actually happen. Feather reed grass, a “cool” season grass, has a crown of feather plumes. Mixed in with the grasses are Russian sage, ornamental oregano, purple coneflowers and black-eyed Susan’s. There’s even a few purple asters blooming a little early mixed in there.
I find that certain plant blooms herald a transition to a new phase of the growing season. Iris’s announce that spring has really and truly arrived, while the plate-like blooms of Yarrow signal that summer is now in business. To me, black-eyed Susans are nature’s herald that late summer is here and that autumn won’t be too far behind. Maybe I feel this way because when they start to bloom is also when I begin to notice that the sun is setting earlier each evening. Perhaps it’s because the yellow and nearly black flowers bring to mind the paint scheme of school buses. Whatever the reason, I regard black-eyed Susans as an harbinger that summer is starting to wane.
Now let us turn our attention to the other side of the driveway. Not a ton of activity over here, as most of the ornamental grasses haven’t started blooming yet. BUT, there are a few things going on. More feather reed grass and Russian sage (I do love me some Russian sage), but mixed in with them is a bright red bloom of the Red Texas Yucca. It took almost five years after I planted it for this yucca to finally bloom for me. But it was worth the wait. All the ornamental grasses I’ve planted this area will start blooming in a month or so.
Now let us move to the borders in the backyard. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot going on back here either. Next to the patio I’ve got purple coneflowers combined with some goldenrods. August is a rough month for the garden (and the gardener). After the heady days of May, June and July the garden likes to stop and take a deep breath in preparation for the autumn finale.
Further down the border we come to this sea lavender. Very tough and drought tolerant plant. The wavy leaves of this plant are how it deals with dry conditions. Plants have a variety of ways to holding onto moisture, and wavy leaves reduces the surface area exposed to the sun thus reduces water loss.
Finally we come to the back corner of the border. Here we have Russian sage (I told you I love this plant), blue globe thistle, false sunflower and in the lower right corner the white blooms of the bindweed I forgot to pull before taking the picture. A lot of blue and yellow. I’m thinking of adding a Red Texas yucca right in the middle to add some red at this time of the year. I’ve got some ideas for making my garden a little more lively in August. I’m just waiting for the temps to ease off before I make my move.
Now for something completely different. I saw my first hummingbird moth last night. Fascinating little buggers, because at first glance they look just like hummingbirds (duh, hence the name). It’s amazing to me how creatures from completely different phylum can develop the exact same characteristics.
So that’s about all that is happening in my yarden in early August. How about you? Anything exciting going on in your gardens during these hot summer days?
