The tiny green swallows inhabiting our birdhouses have flown off to destinations unknown. They've been gone for a few weeks now. I do miss waking up to their early morning song. The garden is at it's peak now. And wonder of wonders, the tomatoes are actually turning red. In August! It's a miracle, I tell ya. Yesterday, Ginger and I pulled down all the dead pea vines for the next rotation of seedlings to climb. We're hoping they make it as a fall crop. We still have peas-a-plenty that were frozen. The wild lettuce garden has bolted despite the shade cover, but we've enjoyed picking our lunch salads all summer. We pulled up beats and roasted a few for cold salads later in the week. Picked a basketful of green beans, which landed on the dinner table last night. They were fantastic just steamed and tossed with olive oil infused with fresh rosemary and garlic.
Way over here, on this side of the yard, the old weather-worn pickets and gate have been replaced. Looking very tidy now thanks to the Mister's masterful craftsmanship. We do so appreciate his woodworking skills! But the silver artemisia is a frolicking froth of foam just spilling out over its boundaries. It's been trimmed back twice already. Time to send it packing to another location, me thinks.
Late summer is when the 'Harlequin Glory Bower' blooms, and I am happy to say, it's right on schedule. So pretty. It's what I gaze upon from the kitchen sink morning, noon, and night. Hummingbirds, bees and butterflies love it and I love watching them come and go.
The flowers have a scent, sweet like orange blossoms, but the leaves smell exactly like peanut butter! My little granddaughters think this is hysterical. The deer avoid it entirely, which is a blessing, as so few plants escape their nibbling. This tree is going on its 6th year now and according to the handy tree guide has reached its full height. But we shall see. Things tend to grow to unexpected proportions around here. You never know. Planting a tree is always a crap-shoot. Anything can happen. We've had to cut so many of them down, for different reasons, so just keeping my fingers crossed that this one doesn't do anything unexpected or crazy. (I planted this grouping in 2006 cages and all, and by 2009 it looked like this.) You can see it's all coming along nicely.
I actually like this Glory Bower SO much, that I cultivated one of its shoots (it does send up shoots from time to time), and planted it out front near the driveway. It didn't do much the first year. This one is about 4 years old now though and is really starting to take off. I need to trim it up to expose some branches. A job best done after the flowers (and bees) are gone.
Here it is again from the back side. More like a bush at the moment. Oh, and here's the brand new view of the woodlands across the street after the clean-up. I absolutely love it!
