Late summer blues

Lovely little Clematis in bloom late in the season

It’s been a while since I last wrote something. I’m not sure if anyone noticed or cared. I was just going through those late summer blues.

Late summer is the time, the in-between time of birth and death. Most flowers have died off, no matter how conscious you are about staggering your plants by bloom time, there seems to always be some dead time in there somewhere.

Signs of a hot DRY summer coming to an end, the hydrangea are yellowing

And with our climate in flux due to GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, one year we have copious amounts of rain, while in others we have seemingly moved to the Atacama. One place in our yard that sees the extreme to extremes is the lower north corner. This Spring I had to wait a couple of weeks to be able to mow as it was a literal swamp, with feet sinking in several inches trying to walk, and now it is as hard as a dry pan with most of the large trees sucking every last drop of moisture out of the surrounding soil and all vestiges of lawn grass going the way of the Dodo.

Late August always brings us Gingerlily blossoms to fill the house with enticing fragrance, this year being no different albeit later and with obviously fewer blooms due to the drought. Hurricane Dorian, having spared Alabama, was supposed to at least bring us some much-needed moisture, but it veered further East and without the need for a sharpie, took its moisture with it. Not one drop did we get.

Even the ferns are feeling the drought

With the length and severity of the drought, we as gardeners, tenders of the flock, have a choice to make. We have to save certain inhabitants in the gardens, but we can’t save them all. You have to choose. All potted plants are an easy save, they are the women and children. The next are the specimen tree/shrubs. They are the men on the ship. They might or might not be saved based on the length and severity of said drought. The captain and crew are expendable. You can’t save everyone. They will go down with the ship. These are the large established trees.

But they know how to survive. They are survivors. They have been dropping their leaves and needles for a few weeks now, mimicking a late autumn afternoon with debris falling like snow onto everything. So we’re not too worried about them. They just won’t be able to give us a colorful show this autumn.

So my wife is caringly watering the women and children first. The men come second. Just.

Garlic is in bloom around the garden. We use it as a deer deterrent but love the flowers, as do the smaller, more unique bees and flies.

Garlic flower heads are busy today!

Very late this year, the Cypress vine is finally in bloom

© 2020 Michael Roseberry. Most photos taken with Nikon D3300.