August Garden

This was the yard when we moved in.

Of course the angle of the photo is different, but the change is evident. We have been blessed with lots of gorgeous rain, sun and no terrible storms. The new trees are showing mega-growth and I have more basil than ever.  

I'm taking photos for my memories and to provide examples for the listing. We are now definitely closing on the new house September 4, and then listing this house around September 16.

The landscape crew I hired got rid of all the weeds and the downed limbs which the city came and removed in two days!

What a lot of wood we had in the yard! Lots of mature trees mean lots of branches dying and falling, but it is a trade off, as we so enjoyed the shade and all the birds. 

O my, have I got tomatoes! These cherry tomatoes never got staked but with raised beds they can spread and tumble over the edges without meeting the ground. There is already a big bowl of fruit in the kitchen and I will be sharing the bounty with friends.

I decided to plant flowers instead of a lot of veggies that didn't do well in a spot that gets a little too much shade. The zinnias and cleome are huge and we also have a lot of cosmos plants but not a single bloom. Must be that they are living in the shade of the other two flowers. 

I'm still waiting for the figs to ripen, but judging from last year, it will be October or November before they are bursting and ready to pick. We'll be gone but then the new house has two trees also loaded with fruit, so I won't miss these so much.

May I recommend Profusion Zinnias if you are buying plants or seeds next season. These yellow ones continually bloom and spread out to fill a lot of space. These were grown from only two plants.

Calla lilies, top right, which are thriving but produced no flowers! Wha? But the begonias more than make up for the loss of color.

Note to self, verbena seem to thrive in pots and love the heat. I'll be making a point of planting those again next year. 

Yup, the basil has gone to seed. 

But at this end there are still some big leaves to harvest. That zinnia at the end is a different variety, and is just one plant. Gotta love their enthusiasm.

There was a fleeting desire to uproot all my fave perennials and bring them to the new house, but I am resisting the urge. Except maybe the newest tree, (above) the pink dogwood. O dear. I guess I could always just get another, and leave this for the new owner, which I really hope is a gardener...thirty years younger than me.