The recent hot and muggy weather has everyone talking rather than singing.
Most say that they don’t remember such a long, suffocating hot spell interspersed with frequent thunderstorms, torrential showers and flooded streets. It is summer, after all, and some say they rather enjoy their air-conditioned homes than having to worry about shoveling snow.
Amazingly, in our garden some of the still vigorous daffodil foliage had to be cut down in mid July and there are some azaleas presently in bloom.
But the daylilies and hibiscus blossoms are spectacular and some pretty, tall pink phlox paniculata has been in bloom for several weeks. The weird thing is that we didn’t plant them. They self-seeded and we let them grow. We used to grow them years ago, but found them a bit too vigorous. Maybe these will behave better.
The Kousa dogwood trees are full of green berries and they look so pretty. Some of the dogwood flowers lasted through the month of July. I don’t ever remember that happening before.
In the vegetable garden, we’re harvesting lettuce, grape tomatoes, chives and lovage. It won’t be long before we’ll be enjoying radishes, cucumbers, green beans and zucchinis. We may even sow some more lettuce and spinach seeds for a late summer/early fall harvest.
The houseplants don’t look so good as I’ve really neglected them. Recently I did buy some pretty Sansevierias. Common names for them include mother-in-law’s tongue and snake plant, among others. They’re supposed to help with air purification indoors. So, I must do some research and report back.
The days are getting shorter. Magazines and newspapers are advertising back-to-school supplies and we’ve received several catalogs selling spring flowering bulbs.
The mailman also recently delivered an interesting looking complementary book, “Garden Wisdom: 365 Days” by Cheryl Wilfong, who wrote “The Meditative Gardener: Cultivating Mindfulness of Body, Feelings, and Mind,” which won 8 book awards. I look forward to reading this one.
I really could use some wisdom when it comes to gardening!