The Song of August

 "The brilliant poppy flaunts her head

Amidst the ripening grain,

And adds her voice to sell the song

That August's here again."

-  Helen Winslow

               

 A corner of my boulder garden with Autumn Sage, Korean mums and Euphorbia.

 

Surprisingly August brought much needed rain after a very dry July.   To my dismay I discovered all of my asters were chomped down to the ground by a neighbor's rabbit.  I had to teach my gardening buddy the Schnoodle Odie the word "rabbit " and now he dives among all the plants to try to catch it.   The rabbits from the neighbor's yard can squeeze through the tiny openings in a chain-link fence !  Now I need to come up with a more effective strategy to deter them.  This is war !

We are still having one of the hottest summers on record with daily temperatures in the upper 90's.  Although I water deeply but not frequently some plants just can't take the Southern summer heat.  The hellebores that line my driveway beds had many leaves turn brown and die but as they were already thick and needed thinning out.

I also lost a dogwood and an azalea to the heat but overall most of my plants survived.

The hummingbirds continue to seek out their favorite flowers -autumn sage is their choice and it is very long-blooming .  I decided to add two nectar feeders for them and they are now swarming around their new found source.

Another pest I discovered in the garden is voles.  I'm spraying with a mixture of castor oil and cayenne in an effort to stop these destructive varmints.

I see that the extended forecast for this September is quite delightful with a lot of cooler days and nights which will give me a chance to replace lost plants and add new ones.