A Late August Garden

Today, I thought I would post a little of this and some of that. There are no new flowers as of yet. The summer ones are fading and the fall ones have not quite appeared. My beds are very dry and needing a good rain badly. I have been watering my containers, but am hesitating to water anywhere else. Were I to water, some might come back for a few days, although I know most of them are on the up comimg fall decline. So I am in a quandary as to what to do.

While outside the other evening watering the containers, I saw this giant of a fly siting on the wet patio stone near my outside faucet. I know it's hard to tell from the picture, but he's at least an inch long. Is this what they call a deer fly? Should go to What's That Bug and find out.

A new butterfly this week. A lovely brown velvet looking one with blue and white spots at the bottom of his wings. Not quite a swallow tail, but more tail than a lot of butterflies. Another one to look up. What book do you recommend for identifying butterflies and moths?

The garden is full of Painted Ladys. and the white cabbage butterfly.

But this one is yellow with a pale brown edging. Again, I don't know it's name, but am enjoying watching their type. They seem to like the yellow flowers best. Maybe, they are harder for predators to see on yellow.

I said I had no new flowers yet, and that is true. But just look at what finally has buds! My moon flower is loaded with them.

I took these pictures at night because the ones I took during the day just didn't show the buds very well. The whole top of this plant is covered with buds. A pay back maybe for having to wait so long for blooms?

Betty Prior is still putting out a few blooms. I'm not sure which type of rose I like best. The hybrids can be spectacular but have little scent. The old fashioned singles are lovely and not very showy, but make up for that with a wonderful smell. This one has a slightly spicy fragrance.

Believe it or not, I still have a day lily blooming. This is one of the purple d'oro's. The color has faded some from when she first began to bloom, but I think her still very attractive. And she seems to be blooming just as long as her yellow counterpart. I wonder if there are other colors in the d'oro line?

I have showed the pink cosmos and now I have a deep pink almost purple one blooming. These were some I started indoors way back and I have been very happy with the results. They were easy to start, transplanted well and have provided another flower for the bees and butterflies to enjoy. I am planning on starting more next year.

This mystery plant has been identified. After much googling(a verb now?) I found a site that says it is grain sorghum. How it got into my flower bed is any one's guess, but I'll bet it had to do with birds and what they are best at-pooping!

While life has calmed down some since the departure of the grand girls, it is still keeping me very busy. I thought as you aged things slowed down! Our son-in-law graduated from a MABAS on Friday evening. It is an extensive 6 mo. course requiring attendance 2 night a week for advanced firefighting techniques. He is a volunteer fire fighter in the small town they live in, and when the opportunity to do this presented itself, he committed himself whole heartedly. JOB WELL DONE, J.! We are very proud of him.

We attended a wedding on Saturday at a small town over by Springfield, IL. It was held in a small but lovely Catholic Church. Someone or some group have taken very good care of this 100year old church and the landscaping was beautiful. Huge maple leaf hydrangeas formed the backdrop for lovely old fashioned shrub roses. Double rose of sharon bushes lined the front sidewalk and were alternating colors of pinks and whites. I know- I should have taken pictures!

Last week and this week, I am working an extra day. While that may not sound like much to many of you 5day a week workers, I am still adjusting to working after 10 years of not. And to top it all off, hubby brought home a big box of Michigan peaches last Friday. We have eaten several fresh and now I need to find time to freeze them. Won't they taste wonderful in cobblers this winter?! Ah well, when winter comes there will be time to rest.

Have a great gardening week!


***I apologize for the spacing, blooger is doing it's own thing again today.