Summer’s Last Flowers?
There aren’t many flowers still blooming on my patio. The ones that are blooming are probably summer’s last flowers.
What is still blooming are the zinnias (the ones in some degree of shade) and weedy morning glories. Even the yarrow has turned brown.
I’m hoping once it gets cooler some plants will bounce back. This was kind of a disappointing year in terms of gardening.
You work to create your seasonal garden, and you end up with a couple of months of blooms before the sun burns them to a crisp. Sad and disappointing.
I will really have to take heed of what occurred this summer and try to reconfigure next spring and summer.
I’d be really upset if I’d spent much money on the patio garden this year.
Perennials:
I was fortunate enough to, after 7 years, have many perennials that came back and filled the containers. So I didn’t have all that much to plant this past spring.
The annuals I centered on were the red geraniums, pansies, petunias, and zinnias.
Stephen King’s Latest Book:
Last night I started reading Stephen King’s latest book. I’ve not read any of his books for quite a few years. Probably since he focused on horror themes.
This book, called “Billy Summers” came out last month. It is #1 on the Amazon charts right now.
“Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out.
“But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?“
Ivy Lou:
Ivy is curled up at the end of the recliner with her paw covering her eyes while she sleeps. She does that a lot.
The other day I came upon Ivy with what looked like a real half-chewed rodent in her mouth. My heart probably skipped a beat or two.
Turns out it was one of her mice toys she’d been chewing on that she dunked in her water bowl. Ivy loves to put things in her water bowl that I have to rescue and dry out.
Shipt Delivery:
My Shipt delivery just came. Guess I’d better put things up.
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My zinnias didn’t bloom all summer. Now they are. Go figure! I always learn something new from your posts – today I googled Shipt!
I just finished reading “ The Beekeeper of Aleppo”. It truly gives you a picture into the world of being a refugee fleeing for your life. The author is an amazing young woman and worked as a UNICEF volunteer in Athens and grew to know the world of the refugees there fleeing for their lives. This book received a lot of acclaim about a year ago but I just finished reading it tonight. Highly recommend. This is not a book to be read & forgotten like so many.
My flowers were pitiful this year, yours look fantastic!! Plus you’re amazing with that camera and capture them so well.
Have you read John Grisham’s only nonfiction book, The Innocent Man?
No, I haven’t. Will check into it though.
Beautiful pictures of flowers today. Here in Texas I have lost shrubbery after our Big Freeze. That was when there was lots of snow for days. It caught the power companies off guard and the power was off for days in many places. I was luckily mine stayed on. I live in the power grid with an assisted living center that also has a memory care unit. My brother came here to have a bath. He had no warm water and loves his baths. A friend who lives close by his house spend several days with me. She even figured out how to light my gas fireplace. It had been off for ten years. I do not do projects like that. A total of ten shrubs had to be removed and three more I thought would survive did not. I plant caladiums in the front. They grow well there. Next year I will plant them further back in that bed so I can plant begonias in front. If I can find elephant ears then I will add more of them in the front and the back.
Maybe you could get a couple patio umbrellas and stands and create some shade/protection. All the stores have their outdoor products on sale or clearance right now. Even if you don’t use them this year you would be prepared for next year.
Hi Brenda,
I think a lot of us were disappointed in the flowers this year. Even the few I did here did not do well. The heat and humidity that we normally do not get until late August was here since June. Just harsh even with all the watering to the plants.
Stephen King’s new books sounds good. Have you watched his book made into a series called Mr. Mercedes. We just finished watching it and it was pretty good. Lots of his King’s twists.
Have a good week.
I have few flowers left blooming now. My three different Roses of Sharon are putting on a show, the white flowering shrub that suffered so much last year that I thought I would lose it over the winter sprang back after a good hard pruning earlier this spring, and is now short but robust and blooming. I pruned back the other two as well but they shot up two-three times as tall as the white specimen. My hydrangea isn’t setting any new flowers, but it appears that none of the blossoms that opened this year (the shrub is loaded) has faded to the point of needing to be cut off. That seems unusual but this has been a hard year weather-wise/water wise for my garden beds. I have one hosta that suffered severe sun scorch for the first time since I planted it 3 years ago. I have been slowly removing the most damaged leaves to encourage new growth. This time of year, I won’t give it a dose of fertilizer, the weather is too uncertain to have it go into a growth spurt. I planted two really bushy zinnias this year that I bought from a nursery. They were about 6 inches tall when I planted them in late May, they are maybe 14-15″ tall now, and kept their bushy appearance. The one that gets just a bit more sun is still setting new blooms, the one that is about a foot away and more shaded seems to be done blooming for the season. Well, now I know where to plant zinnias next year! The last of my purple cone flowers and black-eyed Susans are fading, but there are lots of finches feasting on the seed heads! They entertain me for hours. I also spotted a couple of hummingbirds this year – they love the Roses of Sharon and they hover around the bird bath when the sparrows are taking their communal daily bath, splashing water everywhere! They really are fun to watch. I don’t want to think about the end of summer until the start of October, and maybe not even then. Right now the weather has eased to the point where I’m actually comfortable being outside!
Brenda, I think we’re all disappointed in our gardens this year. Just too much rain followed by scorching heat. It’s like they just boiled. My big raised bed with soil that needs amending so badly amazingly did the best because it’s a light soil that dries out within a day. My cottage garden on the ground is nearly all dead. Maybe we’ll have better luck next year. Have a good day!