Summer Evening

 

 Oh gosh it feels great to be sitting outside after dinner tonight.

A light breeze is blowing and the sounds of summer are in the air.

I couldn't resist bringing my after dinner mint with me.  This mint is in the form of an iced beverage fresh from my herb garden.  I snipped a few sprigs this morning, brought a pan of water to a boil and dropped the mint in.  After letting it steep for a few hours I took the mint sprigs out and poured the tea into a pitcher to cool in the refrigerator all day.

Now that the dishes are done, I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.

 The recent heatwave here brought days upon days of temperatures near or at 100 degrees.  Coupled with our normal high humidity and lack of rain, the lawn was rapidly turning brown despite a regular watering schedule.  You may notice a series of green stripes across the back lawn.  Any guesses why that would be?

 Now that the weather has reached a more comfortable temperature, it is like being set free to venture outside once again.  So here I sit as darkness descends enjoying this beautiful summer evening.

I was hoping to see a hummingbird come to visit the Cannas.

So far, no luck, but I've got the camera ready just in case :).

 I wasn't sure if those Cannas would return this year.  They were newly planted at the top of the waterfall last summer.  When spring arrived there was no sign of them.  I was assured that they were perennials.  Sure enough they popped out of the ground and once they got going, they really shot up fast.

 I haven't featured the pond and waterfall on the blog this spring/summer as we are having an issue with algae.  The water is completely green.  Can't even see the goldfish.  We've been actively treating the water hoping it will clear up.  This is a learning experience for sure.  We did, however, add a water lily plant.  It only had two leaves when we planted it so I was a little leery about how it would do.  Apparently it isn't phased by the algae issues as it seems like every day when we look at it, it has formed more leaves and today we had the first flower open. 

 The timing on our most recent landscaping project wasn't the greatest.  The heatwave hit before the plants had a chance to get established and many of them are ailing or have already died.

There's nothing like a good rainfall.  My supplemental waterings helped, but sadly didn't go far enough to get things off on the right foot.

The hydrangeas above are a "new to me" variety called Pistachio.

I thought they were so pretty when they were first planted, now they are struggling to survive.  I hope with plenty of TLC they will be okay.

 On a happier note the newly planted purple coneflowers are thriving.  They seem to do well even in drought-like conditions.

I guess I must reluctantly head inside.

I was wondering why I was having such a hard time seeing the keyboard until I looked up and saw this.

Yes, a full moon.  Although in real life it's not nearly as blurry.

Ha!  

I hope you are enjoying your summer evenings too.

 

Happy Summer!!