August Garden Tour

August is prime time in the garden, overflowing with life. Yet the downturn is beginning, with plants setting seed or succumbing to disease or pests. However, I like to walk around and observe with so much to see. Above is another attempt to save seed of the bright pink zinnia that I love. 

In the front yard, the chokeberries are ripening. 

The bees are loving the anise hyssop. There has been some asters disease on the coneflowers, which I'm trying to control by removal of affected parts. 

The butterfly weed has blossomed and it going to seed, but the black-eyed Susans are thriving. And the coreopsis keeps blossoming, a hardworking plant!

This year's front shade pots are a combination of torenia, pink impatiens, purple impatiens, and pink begonias. 

In the back yard, the monarch butterfly like the Joe Pye weed. The viburnum are getting big enough to block the view of the neighbor's house and shed. 

These cosmos are near the deck.

The Bloomerang lilac lives up to its name. 

This watermelon is so close to ready!

The yellow pear tomatoes are good producers. This year, my tomatoes are dying from the bottom up, classic tomato diseases. I didn't buy disease resistant tomatoes, choosing instead plants from the local pop up. I had good luck with some plants, though not the peppers and tomatoes.

This is a lemon cucumber. I love that they're small, perfect for one person. They've been sweet and crispy. So delicious on hot days!

This is the first bloom of a Blueberries and Cream dahlia. 

The variegated thyme is crowding out the rosemary in this pot. 

And the lemon grass is crowding out the mint and purple basil. I kept the mint trimmed because I feared it would take over. I'm still learning, even after years of gardening.

This swallowtail caterpillar is why I let the dill grow wild! 

I broke down and bought a "brand name" hibiscus, Hot Shot in the Hollywood series. I'm loving it because it blooms constantly. It takes a lot of water. 

Here's a look at the back of the house, and you can see the Limelight hydrangea, the dying tomatoes, the dill everywhere, the rain barrel, the bubblegum petunias, and the desperate need for weeding in fenced garden. I'm okay with waiting for cooler temperatures, maybe September.