Spring Makes a Quick Turn Into Summer

May is hands down the busiest month of the year in the garden. It's also the most delightful! There are so many new flowers coming into bloom that I'm forever photographing them all. With all these lovely blooms to share, you'd think I would have posted more frequently. Instead, the opposite was true. I was so busy planting everything that I couldn't begin to think of putting up a blog post. And when I finally went to do so, I found myself quite overwhelmed with photographs. But here I am finally trying to catch up with Life in Robin's Nest. I hope you think it was worth the wait.

Remember when we all thought that spring would never warm up? Well, it did. The cliches often say that we'd skip right over spring and move directly into summer, and that assessment wasn't very far off here in central Ohio. Our last frost was back in April, so I planted my containers early this year. While I have plenty of ground plantings, I find summer containers to be one of my favorite ways to garden.

Despite the current warm weather, we still started out the month of May with tulips. Normally they'd peak a couple weeks earlier, but were delayed by April's chill. The good part is that the chill made the blooms last extra long.

Next came all the other spring favorites, lilacs, columbines, redbuds, crabapples, and one of my personal favorite blooming trees, Chinese fringe tree. All the spring color made me almost giddy!

But the spring pastels quickly gave way to summer's more vibrant colors. I think this photo of my front walk illustrates that very point. Yes, that colorful pot on the front porch is a little jarring mixed with all the pastels around it. I fell victim to its glorious color combination while at the nursery, but when I got it home, I couldn't figure out how to make it work. The verdict is still out. When it comes to bright colors, I try to limit them to my back patio, while keeping the front a bit more subdued. I'm not always successful, because I dearly love bright colors.

And so here we are on Memorial Day weekend, when the summer season has its unofficial start. My garden is growing rapidly, and I'm already in summer mode, where I spend long hours outdoors enjoying it all. It's the season I wait for all year long!

The Scruffy September Garden

I really should plant more asters, goldenrod, anemones, toad lilies, and other pretty things that don't bloom till late in the season. I say this every year about this time when the garden starts to fade, and there's nothing new to see. I actually did plant a couple of asters, but I'm not sure if I'll see any blooms this year. Plus they're small, so they won't make much impact yet. Instead, I'll keep enjoying the annuals.

Visiting monarch on Cut and Come Again zinnias

Sun Parasol Mandevilla 

Fireworks pennisetum

This really is the season for annuals to shine. They know their days are numbered, so they pull out all the stops in their quest to live on. Most are quite full and lush now, and it's always such a shame to see the frost get to them.

Queen Red Lime zinnias with unknown skipper

Sneaky portaluca showing up from nowhere

Autumn Blend sunflower

Queen Red Lime zinnias with Autumn Joy sedum

But I'm not thinking about frost right now. It's still near 90 degrees this week, but I must admit that our average first frost is only three weeks away. I find it hard to believe that we'll be that cold by then, but you never know.

Grandpa Ott morning glory, reseeds every year

Grandpa Ott morning glory, reseeds every year

With all this heat and sunshine, the butterflies are still plentiful. You all know how much I enjoy those butterflies. But I have to admit that my pledge to protect bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects has allowed my yard to become bug heaven. As much as I enjoy all the good guys that call Robin's Nest their home, the bad guys are driving me a little crazy. I'm never exactly sure who is munching what around here. I finally remembered to plant some fall crops, and several of them have been munched down to nubs. My vegetable garden is fenced away from critters, so it has to be the nasty grasshoppers I see everywhere. Or maybe it's those hungry cucumber beetles.

Monarch visitor on buddleia

Silver Spotted Skipper

Painted Lady butterfly

Buckeye butterfly

Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar

As much as I love September, the whole yard is looking quite disheveled this time of year. Tall plants are flopping over, powdery mildew is rampant, and things are decidedly overgrown. I find it hard to get motivated to garden when I know that frost will take it all down in just a few short weeks.

Droopy Lemon Queen sunflower

Caproz dahlia with powdery mildew Tequila Lime zinnias

Zingaro dahlia with cucumber beetle enemy! 

One lone zinnia trying to offset the fading blooms around it

I used to think that I should live in a warm and tropical environment where I could garden year round. But over the last few years I've come to the conclusion that it's no longer true. Perhaps it is simply an age thing. I garden with joy throughout the summer, but by fall I'm just plain tried of dragging that hose around and fighting with weeds. It's time for a rest. And I'll come back strong in the spring as I always do. A long winter's rest is good for the soul, and revives the spirit.

Zingaro dahlia

Karly Rose pennisetum

Carpenter bee about to nectar rob Sunset Hyssop

The one thing that I never tire of is to wander the garden and find its sweet spots. No matter how scruffy the garden gets this time of year, I still love it. There's always a tableau to find that catches my eye, even if I have to ignore the disorder around it.

Fifteen foot Zepherine Drouhin rose reaching for the moon

Dazzling Magic dahlia, hardy here in zone 6. Apparently! 

Monge lilac giving me a surprise September bloom! 

Soon it will be cool, and the colors will begin to turn. The same areas I found to be scruffy will glow with autumn color, making me forget the disorder. Until then, I'll savor September, and enjoy the end of this extended summer.