Summer seems to have moved on without the normal 6 weeks of heat with no rain. It's been dry, but not terribly so, and relatively cool. The garden and I are both relived that August is in the rearview mirror.
Above is a late hyacinth bean flowering on the fence. I look forward to the burgundy bean pods every year, and diligently collect the huge seed for the next spring.
Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite' is having a great year, despite being grown in a hypertufa planter.
The kirengeshoma is opening on schedule. Although the flowers don't last long, I love their puffy firmness. They remind me of those orange circus peanut candies we had as kids.
Hardy begonia livens up the shady side of the garage.
Thanks to Matt Mattus's suggestion on his blog, I started using organza drawstring bags to protect the dahlia buds from the earwigs. As ridiculous as it looks, the bags guarantee that I have pristine dahlias to cut for the kitchen table, and less kids freaking out about earwigs at the dinner table.
It's cooled off enough that I've been making hyptertufa troughs for the last three weeks. These are only some of the planters curing under the deck. I'll start opening them next week and will deliver the sold ones in October.
Be sure to let me know if you're in the north Jersey area and are interested in a trough.
