My Garden In August

Seeing my garden turned into a wind-blown bog garden makes me long for the earlier days of August — after the heat waves of July and before the many heavy rain storms of August watered it down. White Hydrangeas, white David Phlox, and yellow Black-Eyed Susan were the garden stars in the flower garden.

The flower garden seen from the back in August.

Black-Eyed Susan and a white Hydrangea.

A different white Hydrangea and the Black-Eyed Susan.

The Kitchen Garden looked lovely in August. I don’t think I ever mentioned that in July, before we went on vacation for two weeks, Brian and I built two wooden obelisks for the Kitchen Garden. I painted them a milky green color. I absolutely love them. I'm growing purple Hyacinth bean vines on them.

Purple Hyacinth bean vines growing on the two green obelisks we built.

The u-shaped beds in the Kitchen Garden were looking colorful with orange marigolds, maroon coleus edged in lime green, green sweet basil, grayish lavender, variegated nasturtiums, and the giant leaves of grayish colored broccoli.

The colors and textures of the raised, u-shaped Kitchen Garden beds.

I planted the same variegated nasturtium in other areas of the Kitchen Garden and they looked so nice this month. The broccoli never produced anything, but the leaves are so large and architectural — I’ve really enjoyed looking at them.

This shot shows how huge the broccoli leaves are. Such a nice contrast to plants with more delicate leaves.

In the bed along the back of the Kitchen Garden (the bed that will be in front of the neighbor’s fence when they finally put it up) I planted Heliopsis Praire Sunset in the spring. It has filled in nicely for it being its first year there. I had also planted a Beautybush, three single Hollyhocks, two Miscanthus Purpurascens grasses, a Pink Velour Crape Myrtle, and two Euonymus Japonicus “Green Spire” in the bed by the “invisible” fence.

Praire Sunset Heliopsis on left with broccoli and variegated nasturtium on right.

Not only is the Kitchen Garden a feast for the eyes, it’s a feast for eating! We enjoyed delicious vegetables from the Kitchen Garden in August. Everything from round eggplant and round zucchini, to yellow squash, green pickling cucumbers, elongated green peppers, red plum tomatoes, and grape-sized yellow tomatoes. The plum tomatoes are an heirloom variety called Martino Roma. The grape tomatoes are also an heirloom variety and are called Blondkopfchen. We had the grape ones last year and really liked them, so I got the same variety again.

A bowl full of veggies, some plum tomatoes, and a jar of flowers from the garden.

Round eggplant and heirloom plum and grape tomatoes.

All the crazy weather doesn’t have me licked yet, though. After cleaning up from Hurricane Irene, I’m thinking of planting some seeds so we can have leafy fall greens in the Kitchen Garden. Maybe some other things, too. We’ll see where the wind takes me.