August garden notes (2024)

Basically, I have a sailor's garden that has to make do with minimal care through the months of July and August. But I was at home more this summer than I have been in a very long time and had a chance to observe, appreciate, and tend my garden.  

Look how tall those roses are! (on the far left of the top photo). They are taller than the eavestrough. That particular rose bush is probably almost as old as the house, which was built in 1952. One of my garden visitors identified it as  'Rosa Queen Elizabeth', which would make sense for the period in question. We've admired it over the decades but haven't really fussed over it, however  Rob gave the plant a bit of fertilizer and they seemed to love the attention. Quite stunning! I'll have to research roses a bit to figure out how far back to prune these beauties, and when. I'd like them a bit shorter next summer so we can admire their blooms without a stepladder.

I love that daphne shrub! It is still flowering through August. The hydrangea is looking splendid. Both are non-natives, but attract lots of different pollinators. 

When the city limbed it up, I thought the spruce looked hideous and want to cut it and replace it with smaller natives like an Eastern redbed or paw paw. Since we haven't gotten permission to take it down,  I'm working around it and the Virginia Creeper vine is greening the trunk. I know some people are offended by the vine but the birds quite love it. Under the spruce, I planted a bunch of native seedlings, including echinacea, which didn't flower this year. Other plants keep dying under the spruce & I'm not entirely sure why. Acidic needles? I will amend the soil this fall.

Having fresh lavender and tarragon was a bonus and the violets were a lovely addition to cake and ice cream. The hummingbird sage actually attracted its namesake, as did the butterfly milkweed.

After morning Qigong in the backyard I'd spend some time weeding the moss between the garden slate. I never really understood that moss needed to be weeded until my trip to Japan. Now it doesn't feel as much a chore, as much as an exercise in mindfulness. 

I love sitting in the corner and looking at how green everything looks after the rain.