Hot Summer Days

Seems we're into the long hot summer season now. It's hot, and lately humid. Not enough rain, but we are getting a little here and there, so that is helping. Previously, it has been hot and on the dry side, which is not good either---it's called drought---which is ongoing. Not great for the plants and flowers. They are surviving, but not producing much. Tonight I went on a neighborhood hunt for some tough specimens, starting in my own yard...

That is some kind of native phlox I found growing wild when I moved here 11 years ago. It did so well, I transplanted it to the garden!

My big hydrangeas are not blooming this year, and I'm not sure why. Just these little upstart suckers I took out of the ground early in the spring, that are still living in containers. But I am grateful for them!

I found this directly across the street from me on the edge of the woods. This is NOT a native in these parts. I think I accidentally weeded this out of my upper border a year or two ago, and sometimes I dump my weeds in the ditch across the street, next to the woods, where they just sort of blend in and decompose...and take root!

Miss Frances' house still stands empty, since her passing, but her apple and fig tree are doing very well!

These neighbors always have a rocking flower garden going on, but theirs also appears somewhat dormant. I also wonder if alot of folks are not saving their water allotment for their vegetable gardens. And these people have one of those too.

These neighbors have some of the most beautiful crape myrtles I have ever seen.

We're depending on our really tough shrubbery like this 'Rose of Sharon' that does not need much care or water. Related to 'Hibiscus'.

And of course, the ever perennial day lily, which never fails us!

I realize trumpet vine is considered a weed in these parts (and a pest) but hey! It's blooming! And it's not getting enough water this year to be invasive.