Monday, June 29, 2015

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!!




 

10 comments:

  1. Kim, I've never seen hydrangeas like that. How fun to have something different! I hope you get some rain for your new plants.

    Oh I have those purple coneflowers and they do great in the heat and drought.

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  2. Your water lily bloom is so pretty. Hope you get the algae under control soon. It's hot here, too, and so unusual for it to continue for so long. Glad you could enjoy sitting outside.

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  3. The flowers are so beautiful that I hope they make it. How discouraging to lose any. Surely,mwith some rain and cooler temps, things will right themselves. Your evening out under the moonshine sounds so Narnia magical.

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  4. The garden looks VERY good, Kim! Mint tea sounds so refreshing.

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  5. Interesting about the green strips. As if those are the only parts getting extra water. Have never seen that type of hydrangea before. Very pretty. Hope you get some rain soon. It's hot as heck here and during the summer there is never any rainfall or any relief from the heat. In fact, I need to get out there soon and water all the plants on my balconies since I forgot to do it yesterday. Best wishes, Tammy

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  6. What a lovely summer evening. : )
    I've never seen that type of hydrangea either. I have 3 of the regular kind but they only have one bloom on them, the same as last year. : (
    We are having the same problem with our water feature too!
    There are lots of cone flowers in my yard and I love them. They multiply like crazy and I've given many of them away too.
    Green strips - extra water for some reason.
    I'd like to send some of our rain down to you - we have more than we can use!!!

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  7. Hi, Kim...it seems we're sharing the same weather...hot and humid. We're having lots of rain though, too. Your flowers are lovely - the cornflowers are so pretty...they remind me of Autumn. Yes, I'm already dreaming of Autumn ;)

    Blessings for some refreshing rain and cooler temps,
    Marianne

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  8. You write in a way that draws one into the setting, and almost makes one smell the fragrance of it all. What a lovely setting you have, and how easy it was for me to see why time passed so quickly for you. The pictures are so beautiful!

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  9. well that was a lovely evening! I dont know whats worse.. too much rain or none. weve had a lot of rain. in fact it rained 20 days in june. I wish we could get mother nature to spread it out a bit to other places that need it. but after all this rain, we are facing 5 or 6 days of perfect summer weather. I cant wait to get outside to enjoy it!
    have a great weekend
    xoxo
    vivian

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  10. Kim, your water lily and hydrangeas are lovely. Kathi

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