August First....

Incredible how fast summer is rushing by this year. Seems only a few days ago I finished planting up my pots and was anticipating the wonderful show put on my my Asiatic and Oriental Lilies in the borders.  Several of the perennials are finishing up early this year including the Orientals. I normally can look forward to the late bloomers like 'Casa Blanca' in early August  but they are losing their last petals as I write this.  Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is already opening blooms a few weeks early and the Sedum 'Purple Emperor' is done blooming and I'm ready to deadhead for the season. The borders are settling into their late summer silhouettes but the containers are lush and gorgeous. One of the many reasons I go a bit overboard with planting container gardens is the color they provide at the end of season is unbeatable.  I still haven't taken a total container count this year.  Maybe I'll get around to that this week.  I told myself I was going to 'cut back' on the numbers of containers but I'm afraid that probably isn't the case.

I did a bit of a walk about with camera yesterday to document the first of August and here are a few things that caught my eye...

Love this shade border next to our garden shed.  This garden is planted primarily for foliage interest and I love its simplicity, ease of care and ability to look good in all seasons.

A view of the Sundial and Terrace Gardens.  The Hydrangea Petolaris has begun to climb the left oak tree. Wonder if it will ever aquire the size of the vine on the right tree....

Endless Summer Hydrangea is still looing good. This is the original shrub I planted years ago when this was a new cultivar and it has bloomed reliably for me in this garden for years.  I liked it so well I planted two others in a couple other locations a few years later and they have never bloomed well for me. I'm thinking they just aren't the same plant as this original.  Several friends also have 'Endless Summer' that don't bloom for them.

A wide angle view of the back yard. Believe it or not, I occasionally sit and contemplate things from that chair.

The Sundial Garden from the dining room windows. The annuals at the base of the bird house are in a large container. I moved it there after the lilies finished blooming.

 A shady corner brightened with begonias, impatiens, neoregelias and fuchsia. The beautiful Japanese Painted Fern was a gift from my friend Sue and I still haven't decided it's final location in the gardens so it's spending it's summer in the west container border.

 Patio containers are providing a lot of color right now and will continue to get bigger and better until frost.

A corner with a young Alocasia plumbea 'Nigra' and A. portodora along with a Colocasia 'Elena' and Banana

 Terrace garden. You can see the non-blooming Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' in the middle of this shot. I'm planning on shovel pruning that at end of season this year.



 A Phlox paniculata seedling that appeared a couple years ago.  It's taller than I want here but I might keep it anyway as the soft lavender and white is really pretty and looks good with the sedum.

 OK enough of this rambling, It's time for me to get outside and water the containers.. Supposed to be another hot one today approaching 90 with high humidity....