Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Farewell to Summer

Zinnias add a splash of color and charm to the garden

A Kansas Country Garden

September 2015

We bid farewell to summer with a mixture of relief and regret. It was a wonderful summer, but I should have gotten a few more projects done. Leaving blistering temperatures behind is easier than knowing that the relaxed summer schedule is coming to an end. But I have to admit that the approaching autumn is a delightful time of the year.

Old fashioned phlox need to be well-watered to thrive. Less water won't kill them, but they will not look good.

Tiger lilies contrast with cheerful hibiscus.

A Kansas Country Garden

August 2015

All is not wonderful in the mid-summer garden. Unlike spring when each day is a new adventure in the garden and new things continually pop into bloom, summer moves a little slower and a little harder.

The highlight of my summer garden has to be the daylilies (whose botanical name is Hemerocallis). Vivid splashes of color alternating with soft billows of pastels give beauty and substance to the garden. There are lots of reasons to love daylilies. Here are four reasons that I love daylilies.

Each flower lasts only a day.

If I could only have one daylily, it would probably be orange.

Yes, that is something to love about this flower. That simple fact compels me to stroll through the garden each day and see, really see and cherish what is here today. It will not be the same tomorrow. Such beauty! So short a time! "Consider the lilies," said Jesus (Luke 12:27) and though the flowers he was referring to might not be quite the same as what grows in my garden, his advice is always worth following. True, there will be more blooms as each stalk has multiple buds, but tomorrow today's blooms will be faded and shriveling. Daylilies are mini-prophets whispering to us, "Embrace today. See it! Appreciate it! Tomorrow cannot be known, but this moment can."

The Surprise Lily, Lycoris squamigera, makes a sudden, but very welcome appearance.

You won't be seeing my garden at its best this week. A string of 100+ degree days takes a toll on the flower garden. And on humans and animals. We all whimper and wither a bit in the heat. While people and animals must have access to plenty of water, I'm not willing to pour unlimited amounts of water on ornamental plants. We've got a drought going on here, folks!

A container of vinca and salvia adds color to the garden.

I do hand water almost every day. Most plants in containers need daily watering. The exception is the succulents who seem to most at home in our hot, dry weather. They would protest more if were always damp and do better drying out before watering. I've had to water some established shrubs and trees. Normally, I would not. The loss of several established shrubs to last summer's heat and drought was a warning not to neglect them. Some plants simply do dormant during this heat and drought. They aren't pretty, but they'll be back. And I can wait.

An assortment of coleus grace this container under the redbud tree.

A pale pink hibiscus begins its bloom.

Though tropical looking, hibiscus does relatively well in the dry heat.

Old fashion phlox suffers in the dry heat--but it will be back next year.

A low growing zinnia continues to bloom.

Dahlberg daisies grow no more than about 5 inches.

This rudbeckia is one a few flowers grown from seed this year.

This lantana is a vibrant red and is unfazed by the blazing heat.

Another photo of a Surprise Lily--which photo is better? The top one or the bottom one?

A Kansas Country Garden - Second Week of July

Sunflowers tower over the vegetable garden and attract hungry birds.

A mystery plant, aka as a wildflower, this plant grew where I planted the parsley and was the lone survivor after bunnies helped themselves. I protected it under a wire cage and though the leaves are similar, I was surprised to find that it wasn't parsley after all.

Verbena bonariensis (the purple flower) is a wonderful addition to any Kansas garden. It has a long bloom season, often overwinters or drops seed, and its tall, leggy flowers sway in the wind and add interest to the garden.

Yellow hollyhocks glow in early light.

Pink Missouri Primrose are reblooming.

Hollyhock, daylilies and echinop are good companions.

Morning glories have heart shaped leaves.

The hibiscus continues to bloom, but may be winding down for the year.

Tomatoes!!

What a treat to go to the vegetable garden and find lots of tomatoes!

They were washed.

They were cut up and placed on the stove to cook. We have several orange tomato plants this year and I cooked some separately.

After several hours, they looked like this.

I'm not sure there is a better way to separate the juice from the seeds and skin than this old-fashioned cone shaped strainer.

Twenty-four pints of home canned tomato sauce!

A Kansas Country Garden - First Week of July

Tiger Lilies are brilliant orange with black dots and are easy to grow.

Hibiscus is a fine companion to the Tiger Lilies.

Daylilies bloom in front of the oregano, hibiscus and tiger lilies.

A bee on the oregano flower. Photos of insects are a challenge!

On a warm afternoon, there is a hum emanating from the garden. An amazing array of insects are finding nectar in the flowers. First choice among the insects seems to be the oregano which is a bit surprising since the flowers are small and not particularly showy. Bumble bees, honey bees and many others bees which I can't identify are enjoying the garden. Some are very tiny. Some look a little like flies, but something tells me they are really bees, too. Some bees seem to have preferences. A certain kind of bee will congregate on a certain kind of flower while another kind of bee chooses a different one. There are wasps, too. Sometimes human visitors are a bit alarmed by all the insect activity. "Are you a flower?", I asked a squealing little girl. "Because that's all the bees want."

Early morning in the garden. Russian Sage is a tall and sturdy plant.

Enjoy the "triplets" today for tomorrow they'll be gone.

A single hibiscus purchased many years ago has been divided quite a few times and planted all over the gardens.

Apple Mint has begun its angular bloom. Apple Mint is a spreader like all mints.

I prefer the simple single orange daylily to its double counterpart.

Soft yellow blooms of a happy daylily.

This one is a light peach color.

Butterfly weed reblooms. The purple flower is verbena, a favorite found throughout the garden.

In front of the house a wild white "flower" has taken over. It adds an architectural interest as they sway in the wind. These plants came by way of a fall bouquet picked from my dad's pasture and shaken out in the garden. Perhaps not the wisest way to garden, but I'm okay with it.

One of my few annual purchases this year is the lovely lantana which is more red than orange.

Lots of Veggies

Tomatoes on every sandwich!

We just have a few okra plants so we haven't had enough for a meal.

Squash blooms are quite pretty.

A Kansas Country Garden - Fourth Week of June

The phlox are just beginning their bloom and attracted this swallowtail butterfly.

What a beautiful butterfly!

The key word for this week is hot. Horrendously hot. Get your outside work done before 10 a.m. hot. Water everyday hot. Yes, it is hot. It is summer in Kansas after all.

This simple, soft yellow daylily is lovely.

Strawberry Fields Gomphrena self sow in my garden have just begun to bloom. A peach daylily blooms in the background.

Russian Sage doesn't seem to mind the heat. It's a sturdy plant.

The butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) in the foreground has begun its second bloom of the season.

This Hibiscus is simple and sweet.

I have divided and replanted this hibiscus in many places throughout the gardens.


This volunteer sunflower picked a nice spot next to the vegetable garden to grow. The flower is very small in proportion to the plant. It may be time to plant seeds next year.

Squash for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I love squash, but I can't do that either. If you're looking for ideas of what to do with squash, here are a few suggestions from an earlier blog.