I began my August report about our garden by noting that, “August is the time when late flowering perennials begin to come into their own. Dahlias are at their best and crocosmias add sunny hot colours to the borders, from the pure yellow of ‘George Davidson’, through the oranges of C. ‘Hellfire’ to the red of C. ‘Lucifer’.”
I then shared a set of five photos of colourful dahlias and four photos of crocosmias.
Over the page I moved on to consider foliage and I wrote, “Foliage reacts to any rain after long dry periods. When too dry, foliage goes flat and dull looking, but as soon as rain falls it returns to its usual form, much shinier with a liveliness that we haven’t seen for a while. For the leaf photos below I concentrated on different shapes of leaves.”
As usual the weather appears somewhere in every monthly report of my journal, and August was no different. I wrote that,“The drought continues and there is no sign of rain to come. This long dry period is having a destructive effect on the garden. A few plants don’t seem to mind but most are suffering badly.”
“Phlox flowers shrivel as they open. Ferns dry up as well as perennials and shrubs.”
Over the page and I looked at gardening tasks that had to be done, plus the start of a big job that will take several weekends. I noted that,“More jobs to be done this month, but the hot temperatures make every day jobs so tiring. But maintenance needs to continue. Jude did a major tidy of the wildlife pond and when doing so discovered this deep purple Iris ensata. We also pollarded a Salix gracilistylis melanostachys, which was too top heavy”
“We are having a new shed handbuilt by Jo and Ed, our daughter and son-in-law. It replaces the two sheds we have been using and will be a wonderful size at 15ft by 5ft.”
“First job was to empty the two old sheds and find temporary homes for the contents. Not an easy job!”
“The concrete base was soon down first with damp proof layer and wooden base frame.”
“By the end of the month we have fitted the metal back to the shed to ensure ‘low maintenance’ and then the roof wooden pieces were fixed in place.”
On the next page I turned towards considering our garden wildlife and noted that, “Our garden wildlife has gone quiet as birds have stopped nesting and raising their young and have now moved into moulting. They seem to hide away in shame because of their scruffy appearance although we have seen a Goldcrest feeding in the front garden.
We still hear buzzards and kite high overhead, and occasionally now we have flocks of gulls above us along with large ‘clatters’ of noisy jackdaws.
Bees and hoverflies are busy foraging alongside solitary wasps and our common wasps. We have common garden bees nesting in one of the several upturned terracotta pots alongside our sitting and dining area. We have watched closely their comings and goings.
Jude has built a new insect hotel from a pallet and objects from the garden.”
Brown Lacewing Ichneumon wasp (I. amblyjoppa)
Hatched Dragon Fly Nymph Common Garden Bee nest site
Jude created another insect hotel near the framework of the new shed to replace the one we had to undo.
My next and final page for August featured one of our favourite plants in the garden, Althaea cannabina, which I painted in watercolours and Japanese Watercolour Pens. I wrote,“Althaea cannabina is also known as the Hemp-leaved Hollyhock. It is a tall airy plant usually growing to 6 or 7 feet tall but this year has reached 10ft tall.
It has lots of side branches producing masses of pale pink flowers that wave around in the slightest breeze. It is loved by bees too!”
I drew it and added watercolours and Japanese Watercolour Pens.
That is all for my August journal so I will send out the next instalment in September.
greenbenchramblings 