August days in Virginia can be hot and humid. This year is no different. We have been blessed with plenty of rain and plenty of sunshine. Along with the rain and sunshine the flowers as well as the weeds require a gardener to stay on top of things. Working outdoors this morning only allowed me to weed for an hour. Then it was back indoors where I could cool off in the air conditioning.
In spite of my uncomfortable situation these elements make the flowers happy in my garden.
The Vinca in the patio planter is doing well. After not being able to have impatiens here (because of downy mildew), I'm happy to have found another substitute.
Mushrooms are quite abundant with all the rain we have received.
We have a lot of shade on our patio that makes a wonderful spot to enjoy on the less humid afternoons. We often read, or chat or just enjoy the sights that surround us.
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| Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird |
I hope you have a hummingbird feeder nearby to enjoy their antics. They are getting ready to take a long journey to the south so it's important to continue feeding these hungry ones as some fly as far as South America for the winter. Isn't nature amazing?
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| Male Ruby Throated Hummingbird |
If you wish to make your own nectar for the hummingbirds it's quite easy. I boil one cup of water with one quarter cup of sugar. Do not substitute artificial sweetners or honey. They need the sugar for nutritional needs and they can't digest honey. It's not necessary to add red food coloring. It may be harmful to them. Believe me they will come. Just be sure to replace the food as it can get moldy in the heat.
We mostly enjoy relaxing in the afternoons, but sometimes "I" notice jobs that need attending. Our patio is concrete. Since we are shady and have had such a wet summer it appeared to be quite dirty! Grayden has a small pressure washer that he had used once. He really was not pleased with it and so we hired a fellow to pressure wash our patio. Unfortunately after he finished the job we had to replace the brick planter the following year! Our patio has not been pressure washed since then. Grayden, reluctantly agreed to try his pressure washer this time. He and I were thrilled with the results. I think he did a great job as you can see. He was very careful with the planter.
I can't believe how dirty this concrete was! Now in all fairness I need to tell you that I looked in my gardening journal and saw that it was last pressure washed in March of 1999! He also pressure washed the dirty patio rug and the results were amazing. Now maybe we'll not wait another 19 years to clean the patio!
The Heavenly Blue Morning Glory is covering the trellis. Hopefully soon it will be blossoming. I looked in my journal again and noticed that the blooms usually appear in late August.
The weather will be changing soon to less and less humidity and we will be able to enjoy our afternoons on our clean patio.
Your gardens are just beautiful!!! Enjoy the fruits of all your hard work and hopefully we will get some cooler days soon so we can sit outside and not expire from the humidity.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, Dee. I'm an outside gal and hopefully soon we will all be enjoying less humid days. ♥
DeleteYou have a beautiful garden Martha Ellen, I love all these pretty photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you Denise, I really love gardening, but with these recent temperatures it's a difficult task. Thank you for stopping by. ♥
DeleteIt is looking fabulous out there! Your patio planter is lovely, glad that you found vinca. I need to have some cool mornings to get some outdoir things accomplished. I don’t enjoy the humidity like the flowers do.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Vee. Vinca fills in nicely in this planter. Getting outside early is the only way to work outside during this oppressive heat. ♥
DeleteWhat a beautiful, lush garden you have Martha Ellen! I am envious of all your flowers. I plant flowers every year but Colorado weather is finicky and a challenge, between cool nights and hot dry days and then occasional hail storms and deer and rabbits eating everything. I feel fortunate if anything survives. Your Morning Glory arch will be a sight to see --please post photos when it blooms!
ReplyDeletePat, I would have no idea how to garden in Colorado! I think each of us has our own challenges gardening. I do hope the Morning Glory will begin to bloom soon and I'll be sure to take photos. Thank you for visiting. ♥
DeleteHow beautiful it all looks {especially Grayden's handiwork on the patio!} That is interesting to read that Hummingbirds cannot digest honey. Such tiny birds, such great distances to travel. I am always in awe of the Wandering Albatross, which only comes to land every two years and can travel up to 75,000 in one year! How incredible is nature?
ReplyDelete~~~Waving~~~from a mere 3,500 miles away~~~Deb in Wales xoxo
Deb, I hadn't thought about the Wandering Albatross. What an amazing bird! I remember a National Geographic special about them and the great distance they can travel! I am in awe over the incredible world we live in!
DeleteWishing we could fly like a bird that 3,500 miles for a quick visit! xoxo ♥
It looks beautiful out there, such a wonderful place to sit and relax. Pressure washing the footpaths is on the to do list, which seems to be getting longer and longer by the day.
ReplyDeleteThe list goes on and on, doesn't it? There is always something to keep us busy. ♥
DeleteWhat a lovely garden you have Martha Ellen so tranquil and pretty🌼
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how effective pressure washers are they make things like new.
The hummingbirds were a joy to see I wish we had them here x
Thank you, Fiona. Gardening is my joy! It's so hot here, though, it makes it difficult to stay outside for very long. I just came inside for a breather and I don't think I'll be back out again today. Hummingbirds are so unique in their abilities. I'll try to photograph them again soon, but they are so fast these days! Have a joyful weekend. ♥
DeleteI keep a house journal and find it quite useful to look back on things. I have a question about your outdoor rug. They look so nice on patios but I wonder why they don't get moldy with the rain and humidity.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it nice to be able to look back and see when we did certain things? I tend to be the most faithful to my gardening journal. The outdoor rug does get moldy with the rain and humidity, Dotsie! We bought this one last year and washed it before storing it for winter. Pressure washing it this year was so much easier than scrubbing it by hand. It's one of those things you don't realize how dirty it is until you clean it! ♥
DeleteSo many beautiful flowers! It's been so hot and humid here too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pilar. I hope you are finding a nice cool place to enjoy the last of summer. ♥
DeleteLove the vinca in your planter- that was a great choice. Looks like the pressure washing did a nice job! I love the flower of the morning glories. I used to have an arbor in a sunnier spot and grew them on it. I hope it cools off for you. I don’t do well with high humidity and would retreat to the air conditioning too! I’ve got a pair of hummers visiting regularly and always pause to enjoy them. They’ll be gone soon from here as they start to make that trek south.
ReplyDeleteLiz, I've been happy with the vinca the last couple of years and intend to plant it again as it fills in nicely. One thing for sure, a gardener has to have perseverance. I wonder if your hummingbirds will visit us on their journey south? I'd like to think so! ♥
DeleteAbsolutely stunning flowers and patio area - I could sit there for hours and enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patti for visiting. We do enjoy our patio very much when the weather is not so humid. ♥
DeleteWe have been blessed with rain every day for more a week, and, of course, with it comes the humidity. I do not complain for during the terrible drought of 2012, I made a pledge to never do so again. Your flowers still look so fresh and beautiful. My annuals are beginning to look a bit faded and tired, but I, along with the bees and butterflies, like them still. I am a passionate feeder of the hummingbirds and have them all over the place. They are now consuming about two gallons of boiled sweet water every day. I always feel a bit sad when they leave, and worry about their welfare on such a long, long journey.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't complain either, Chip Butter. I love the outdoors so much and feel the humidity keeps me inside more these days. I am astonished at how much your hummers eat! You must have many of them that enjoy your generosity! ♥
DeleteOH! how pretty is your garden,Martha, with the extreme heat, drought, and now lots of rain our garden is not doing as well as I had hoped, of course,I must admit it has been neglected due to our circumstances, plus I can only stay out in the heat for short periods of time. I have now set my sights on cooler weather and fall colors.~sigh~
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of concrete cleaning ours is long over due too! Maybe when it cools.
Thank you for your sweet thoughts and prayers on our loss of Jack, it has been a sad week for sure.
Blessings,
Sue
Thank you, Sue. I know this is a hard time for you. Your beautiful memories of Jack must visit you every day.
DeleteThis afternoon is so much better in the garden and I am writing to you from my chair on our clean patio ! I love the outdoors so much, but am thankful for air conditioning. Have a nice week. ♥
Martha, your garden is gorgeous. But, yes, let's wait until the humidity goes down a bit. I can't wait! Power washing the patio every 19 years sounds about right to me!
ReplyDeleteJean, today was a little cooler with less humidity---thank goodness! We were able to enjoy a little time on the clean patio after having Your wonderful lasagna. My family loves that recipe and so do I!
DeleteEvery 19 years shouldn't be too hard! My husband agrees with you. ♥
I hope you had a respite from the heat today like we did up this way. I've had the house opened up all day, but now it feels damp. I can't call it humidity because it's not muggy. Reminds me of the nights at my Mamaw's in Mississippi. We'd sleep with the windows open (no A/C) and we'd wake up damp. I love the night bugs that sing even now I think because it reminds me of being at Mamaw & Papaw's farm.
ReplyDeleteToday was so much better, but not good enough to open the windows, Cathy. I grew up with no air conditioning and I really don't know how we survived! We were used to it, I guess. I do remember a very slow pace when the heat and humidity cranked up. It's nice you have pleasant memories being with your grandparents in spite of the heat and humidity. ♥
DeleteAs a child I don't remember being bothered by heat and humidity. I wore my hair pulled straight back into a pony tail and was always playing with my friends so didn't notice it. I lived in Mississippi till I was 11. After that the mid-west and if I complained about the weather it was because I'd cut my hair shorter and it made my hair curly and frizzy.
DeleteAs a child I think we adjusted to most anything, Cathy. As an adult we become more sensitive, at least I have. ♥
DeleteThat hummingbird on the feeder looks so cute, never seen this interesting bird in real. That sounds terrible hot at your end. For our country we also had a very hot July and beginning of August and we still need rain....... Since end of May we had only a few light showers, sigh.... I'm tired of dragging hoses.
ReplyDeleteJanneke, we always have a hot and humid summer. This year seems to affect me more, though. Hummingbirds are the smallest birds we have. We enjoy seeing them flitting about and eating at the feeder. We are the ones that normally have to drag hoses. Hopefully a good soaking rain will visit you soon. ♥
DeleteYour garden and patio area looks amazing.. the pink vinca is performing beautifully! We also have a hummingbird feeder and keep it up all year as we have at least a few that stay here all year. I'm starting to look forward to Fall as we need rain here very badly. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Teresa. I know your hummingbirds are different than our's, but I didn't realize they didn't migrate south for the winter. We're expecting rain tomorrow and cooler temperatures. I hope you get your much needed rain soon. ♥
DeleteWhat a beautiful area for sitting and enjoying watching the hummers...I love to watch them. Love your flowers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pam. The hummers have been very ferocious eaters lately. ♥
DeleteI think your garden is just beautiful, such wonderful colours too.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Jan, I love gardening and all the joys it brings. Thank you for your sweet comments. Have a lovely week. ♥
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