A Little August Color. .

It seems very difficult to believe that it is the middle of August. .

Not only because we have had over 7 inches of rain in the last month

(which to some of you sounds like no big deal. .

but to us in Western Kansas. .

In JULY/AUGUST. .

It is a HUGE deal!!)

But also because the temperatures for that same length of time have been in the 70-80’s and a few low to mid 90’s!!

This time of year is when we USUALLY have our multiple 100 degree days!!

Now don’t hear me complaining. .

I am NOT!! It just feels strange!!

The flowers are LOVING the weather. .

So I thought I would give you a quick tour!!

This is a little clump of purple salvia that I moved from my mom’s gardens after she moved. .

The bonus was. .

The pink sweet William in the front!

Across the sidewalk from that is my lil’ veggie garden.

The tomatoes have been a total bust!! Not sure why. .

According to all the messages in my In-box. .

Everyone else who bought these grow boxes have PHENOMENAL results!!

Grr!!

The basil and peppers have started to really look nice though. .

And the cucumber vines have grown well. .

The ones that survived the kittens did anyway!!

The three galvanized tubs that were salvaged for herbs are doing well. .

Dill compacto on the left is blooming!

I think I will let it make seed and hope that a few will come up in the straw area next spring! There is also some lemon thyme in with it. .

The chives are in the middle with a clump of regular thyme. .

And something LOVES oregano other than us. .

Cause it has nibbled the clump in the right pot down to the quick. .

It’s just now regenerating!

Grant and I are hoping to make some raised beds in the background to grow beets, garlic, and okra, and put the tomatoes back into the ground, using the grow tubs for peppers and smaller things. We also intend on moving the rhubarb and blackberry plant to the same area. .

Adding another blackberry bush and another raspberry bush as well as two grapevines.

The garden has sure been handier to monitor for this busy gardener when it is right under my nose as I leave every morning!

These little self watering tubs are working better on the flowers than they are on the veggies. .

They have just been slow to take off. .

Usually, we are eating watermelon by now. .

At least we have the promise of watermelon to come. .

Cantaloupe too!!

That will be wonderful!

The nice thing will be. .

That I will pick up the tomatoberry plants that are producing. .

As well as the established pepper and basil plants. .

And move them straight to the greenhouse in their grow boxes.

I am excited to see how that works out.

I also started some new tomatoes, some swiss chard, cilantro seeds, and Diva cucumbers. These will be my winter greenhouse crop.

The moonflowers have reseeded in several areas of the garden. .

They sure do shine in the moonlight and into early morning!
Tristan even picked one for me and brought it into the house the other morning. .
They don't last well in a vase. .
but he didn't know that!!

This was a volunteer Russian sage from my Russian garden. .

I transplanted it to the memory garden last spring. .

It is doing well here and the bees love it!

In contrast. .

Here is my Russian garden!!

Not only do the flowers love the rain. .

So do the weeds!!

This bed was cleaned out not long ago!! The Texas red yucca are just now big enough to have had one bloom on them. .

I think that in the next year or two, that color combo will be really stunning! This bed has had no additional water, even earlier in the summer when it was hotter and things seem to be holding their own.

Back to the memory garden. .

There is a HUGE patch of these cute little mini hollyhocks! Behind are all the dried blooms from the Monarda!

My favorite Grandpa Otts morning glory. .

They are rambling up the fences now!

Right down from those is this transplanted clump of Karley Rose grass. .

One of my very favorite grasses with purplish plumes and a medium height.

The patch of purple is a sedum from my mom. .

Possibly blackjack.

When we moved plants from her yard, she remembered how much I loved the black sedum and asked me to take that clump. It has established well. .

And I’m not sure that I had ever really been to her house this time of the year. .

Because the stem color has darkened dramatically. .
And I love it even more now!

Can’t wait to propagate that into some new clumps!

Last bloomer in the memory garden is this Guava ice coneflower that I got on clearance in mid June!! Loving that!

Grant’s zinnias are blooming. .

And look nice with Salvia shared by Gardener on Sherlock street. .

As well as near the goldenrod that has been blooming for about a month now!

One naked lady left. .

The clump was gorgeous. .

And there were several clumps that I found.

Those reestablish sooo slowly after moving them, that I still find new clumps each year!!

I tried to grow gladiolus this year. .

I’ve had mixed results. .

There were several that died. .

Though I’m not sure what made the difference.

I’ve had a handful that bloomed. .

Some that bloomed also had the bulb next to them die. .

Go figure!!

The pitcher pump has run water all summer!!

Seems the magical cure was to get it out of nearly all of the wind. .

I have absolutely loved it!!

My large galvanized tub. .

With purple fountain grass, lemongrass (which I STILL don’t know how to cook with) and sweet potato vine. .

There are still some purple petunias in there. .

But the other stuff is edging them out. I do like the contrasting colors and foliage!

The $2 clearance canna bulbs are starting to bloom in the pond. .
I'm hoping to salvage those in my garage this winter and use them again next year.

And this little blue pickerel water plant has also been throwing purple flowers out for about 2 months now!

The corkscrew rush has been naturalizing the pond since the pond’s inception. It looked really neat with the rain drops still on it’s stalks!

As did the backlit Mexican hats!

I love sooo much the colors of later summer and fall. .

Everything is fuller. .

The butterflies are visiting in full force. .

And the weather promises cooler temperatures (eventually)

I’m sure there will be a few more blooms to showcase before the end of the season!!

No Shortage of Blooms Here!

I love fall!! Everything about it. .except that it means winter comes next. .which I HATE. .except for some occasional snows, which I like!  While wandering around the yard earlier this week I found that there seems to be no shortage of blooming flowers, grasses and berries as the season comes to a close!  The gardens are looking good with the cooler weather.  Thought that I would share a few pictures of what things are looking like around here!

Cami and I went "adventuring" on Monday.  I have been working on the new flower bed with horrible soil between the house and the new waterfall/creek bed.  I already love this layout SOOO much better with the extra room to work.  My idea was to scatter some of my coolest limestone rocks and add succulents around them to grow.  It is hot there. .it's on the south side of the house and the house has aluminum siding!  I have already transplanted some things into the bed from other places in the garden.  But the purple flowers above were transplanted from our pasture.  They are liatris, or blazing star.  Unbeknownst to me, there are at least 5 kinds listed in my wildflower guide--and I have it narrowed down to one of 2 varieties.  We dug up 3 clumps, catching nearly all of the thick taproot.  They went immediately into the soil and we watered them in.  I think they will be very pretty there in the late summer/early fall if they survive the transplant--sometimes prairie wildflowers don't transplant well.

We also found a bird nest that I had noticed beneath the tree by the mailbox about a week ago.  Apparently no one is needing it right now, so Cami picked it up and brought it back with us!

Here's some Autumn Joy Sedum.  It is a faithful bloomer this time of year.  My mom taught me that you can just snip some stems and stick each one into the ground.  They root easily and take off well. .I have tried it that way too, and it works great!

This is liorope--or monkey grass.  I really love the varigated variety.  It does well in sun or partial shade--as it is in here.  It has pretty little purple spiky flowers in fall.  This one is tangled up with my dreaded bermuda grass.  ARRRRG!

This is another variety of sedum--it is a varigated kind.  I found it for half price at Brady nursery last year.  I didn't take a picture of my purple emperor sedum--I keep breaking it with my hose.  Poor stuff.  But I just keep sticking the broken stems back into the earth, and they continue rooting!  They have a purple stem and foliage with similar colored blooms.  They are blooming now too, but the stems are pathetic and laying on the ground!

My pyracanthus bush has been planted for about 8 years.  It is about 5 1/2 feet tall, and I LOOVE the orange berries in the fall.  I cut a few stems the other day to add to a decoration for my picnic table.  I'll let you know if the berries will hold their color or not--I haven't ever tried it before.

The 1/2 price silver lace vine is finally going to town in its 3rd season, and has nearly reached the top of this trellis.  My hope is that next season it will loop itself over the top.  It has been blooming now for about 6 weeks, and is very pretty!

Here are some late planted zinnias.  I don't remember the names, but they are the most brilliant red/orange color you will see! 

These little guys are my pride and joy. .because I started them in my greenhouse from seed last spring.  The purple coneflowers are finally big enough to bloom, and they are lovely!  I have left the seedheads on all my other coneflowers as food for the birds, so they are pretty ratty looking right now! These new plants just started blooming about a week ago, which was a surprise to me, since often times periennials don't bloom the first year.

This is another greenhouse success. .Rudbeckia, or black eyed susans--variety Hirta.  The blooms are smallish, and I really hope that next year they will be taller with bigger blooms. .but most of the transplants have survived, so I can't WAIT for the show next summer!

Finally, a shot of my west flower beds.  You can see the cloud of orange and yellow cosmos.  They have happily reseeded themselves for the last couple years.  The double knock out roses are getting big too, and have bloomed all summer.  I was really lazy about cutting off the dead blooms--and was advised that they would bloom more if I did, I just didn't have time.  The ornamental grasses are looking their best right now too--but that may just have to be another post sometime this month.  The mums are starting to turn on their glory and in a week or so will be putting on quite a display!

I'm sure trying to soak up the beauty before old man winter shows up to stay!

Don't forget to stop a minute and enjoy your own views!