What a Summer

 

Summer used to be a favorite season of mine.  I guess it was a carryover of summer vacation from school.  Carefree days going barefoot and lazily enjoying endless days biking and roller skating with my sisters and friends.  Even after getting married and having children, I remember summer days were wonderful carefree days on our boat water skiing and looking forward to our annual week at the beach.  Did I care about the heat and humidity then?  I honestly don't remember that.  I did not grow up with central air conditioning.  We had a window unit that my Daddy would allow us to use on the most hot evenings in our upstairs bedroom.  Well, that was then and this is now.  I have a love hate relationship with summer in Virginia. 

 

  

I do love the pleasant days spent on the patio.  We have had the hottest, driest July that I can remember.  Only during early mornings could you find us enjoying time reading and gardening this year.

 

A baby cardinal was perplexed by his reflection and flew into the window incessantly.  Reading about this behavior revealed that he was demonstrating his need to defend his territory.  The poor fellow kept up this action for over a week!

As soon as the calendar page was turned to August we received rain.  Glorious rain from the heavens!  We have had over 9 inches of rain this month after having hardly a drop in July.  The mushrooms are popping up all over.

 The jasmine has been blooming and sending its wonderful fragrance onto the patio.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly enjoys the white buddleia blossoms.  It is Virginia's state insect and is one of the largest butterflies.

The elusive Monarch showed up to our delight.

The Sphinx Moth enjoys nectar on the patio vinca. These little moths are wonderful to view as they go from blossom to blossom gathering nectar.

The Black Swallowtail shows erratic behavior that we haven't observed before.

 

A darling little Pearl Cresent butterfly visited the nearby azalea.  He is quite small, only 1 inch wide. 

Grayden came to my rescue one morning and helped me clean out the periwinkle and lily of the valley that was completely taking over this garden.  With all the rain we've had it made for easy digging, though the tough roots of the invaders made huge masses of roots.  

The Dragon's Head is just beginning to blossom.  It's nice to have plants growing that were given to me by a friend years ago. 

From my research this may be a Fiery Skipper if I'm not mistaken.  If you know please comment.

Yes it's been an unusual summer, but still much beauty to enjoy.  We still walk the trail every morning at the crack of dawn and otherwise stay home tending to our home and garden.  I'm thankful for diversions during this time in history.

Cooler Temperatures

For the last couple of days we had a respite from the heat and humidity!  Along with plentiful rain (six inches for the month) we are blessed with happy plants.  I'm so thankful to enjoy time on the patio and in the garden in July.  It's also a time that Grayden and I have been able to do our second pruning of the shrubbery.

Our Crepe Myrtle 

During this past week we had the trees attended to on our property.  If you remember we had a very large limb fall in May and it prompted us to get our trees evaluated.  I was going to post a link to that post, but I have somehow managed to delete that post! 

Taken in May

We had several large oak limbs removed.  They also looked at the health of our trees and one was singled out as a possible problem.  This large oak was beside our bedroom and very close to the house.  We decided it was best for us to have this tree removed. 

 It makes us sad as we know this tree was over 100 years old.  When the tree was removed water came out of the inside.  It would have rotted from the inside and then been a danger to our home.

  Summer storms can get quite violent in our area and we always see on the news where folks have large trees slice through their homes.  It's so sad to see that, even sadder when someone gets hurt or worse.

I am always amazed at how skillful these men take down huge limbs without injury to themselves or to property.

  Our new view of our garden has a lot more morning light now.  Thank goodness we still have plenty of shade around in the afternoon when the temperatures increase.

The Rudbeckia Hirta (Blackeyed Susan) are blooming and brightening up the perennial bed.

  The bees are enjoying the blooms as they gather nectar.  It makes me so happy to see them in our garden.

  I've not seen the usual butterflies this year.  I'm not sure why.  The butterflies I see seem to have the most crazy flights.  Rather spastic with circling quickly around flowers.  Have you seen the usual number of butterflies this year? 

 We need all of the pollinators we can get.

Sphinx Moth

  I thought we had some milkweed growing in our compost area, but it turned out to be pokeberry.   Pokeberry can be the bane of us that like to hang sheets on the line.  If you have birds you know what I mean!  We are going to have to arrange a new clothesline as the tree we had removed served as a part of a clothesline for us.

Shredded Oak Stump

July is practically over and August will greet us tomorrow.  I hope you are finding joy in whatever comes your way. 

The Magic of Nature

Cooler temperatures and lower humidity has graced our area for the last couple of days.  Shouting for joy about the beautiful weather, we can now take our walks through the neighborhood and enjoy it!  As most of us have endured one of the hottest summers on record, it changes my days.  I adore the outdoors, but not the sweltering days we've had.  It's much easier to check on the garden and just relax on the patio when the weather is tolerable.  While relaxing outside we enjoy reading or solving a sudoku or just seeing who will come to the feeder next.

Black-capped Chickadee

The cicadas are really tuning up their song these days.  As I was hanging sheets on the line yesterday it was quite loud.  They are also dropping from the trees as their brief cycle begins.  We were supposed to miss this years Magicicada invasion, but you can't tell it around here.  As creepy as they look and sound, they do not bite or sting.  As I swept off the patio this morning a large dead one came into view.  Here is the sound they make if you are not familiar. HERE

Cicadas have a 17 year life cycle.  The bugs are under the ground for almost all of this time.  When they come up  they find mates and then lay eggs and die.  If you dislike bugs you may not want to look at this photo.

Let's take a look at "cuter" creatures.

The Sphinx Moth (Sphingidae) or Hummingbird Moth is so interesting to watch as he gathers nectar.  He's quite magical.  Some folks think they are watching a hummingbird, but he is a moth.  I find him so fascinating!  I do hope you have witnessed his antics.

The birds are beginning their migrations south, so you may have seen many hummingbirds and other birds fly through your area.

Another magical moment came for us as we were visited by a Monarch Butterfly!  We have many swallowtails, but hardly ever see the Monarch.  If you want to learn more about the king of butterflies go HERE .  Depleting milkweed plants are really affecting the population of this beautiful butterfly.  If you have a wild area on your property, consider letting milkweed grow.

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."  Nathaniel Hawthorne 

A rather large frog found a cool spot in a pot of begonias.

These are just a few of the magical creatures that may come to your garden.  I hope there is time in your day to look at the wonder of nature.  Have you seen anything interesting in your garden recently?  I'd love to hear about it.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ― W.B. Yeats

Summer in September

♫ September Morn ♫

September is still Summer for us.  Summer it is!  Autumn doesn't officially come until September 23rd.  Even then, we will still have warm days into October.  We are seeing subtle signs of the changes about to begin.  Even though we've had 90 degree days and humidity that makes my hair grow when we take our morning walk, we see the changes happening.  The lamp in the living room is turned on earlier.  The sun comes through the bay window at a different angle.

 The leaves on the big oak tree out front is suffering from lack of rain.  The trees are dropping their leaves to save water.  Grayden and Samuel have already mowed and bagged leaves for compost.  It's quite early for that and even though it hasn't been a week it needs to be done again.  The black gum always drops its leaves now, but not the oak.  We don't water our lawn so of course it is brown.  The plants in pots are now getting daily watering as I can't bear to loose them so early.

Do you get the Sphinx Moth visiting your flowers?  They look like a small hummingbird and are so industrious!

The morning glories are just beginning to bloom on the trellis.

The dry weather doesn't keep the fall crocus from blooming.

Fairy Blankets

September’s Baccalaureate
A combination is
Of Crickets—Crows—and Retrospects
And a dissembling Breeze

That hints without assuming—
An Innuendo sear
That makes the Heart put up its Fun
And turn Philosopher.

Emily Dickinson