The Summer Fade

September often feels like summer, with warm weather and lots of sunshine. But this year it's a little cooler and some fall color is already starting to appear. It's a little sad. I mean, I love fall, don't get me wrong. But my flowers have been fabulous this year, and I don't want them to leave me. If only they all faded away in such a pretty, vintage looking manner like my Endless Summer hydrangea.

However, there are way more postives than negatives about September. I always see a big uptick in visits from butterflies, moths and skippers. I was so excited to see this Sphinx moth that I let a monarch go fluttering by! I regret it, however. I've only seen a few monarchs come by, and no way will they pose for my camera.

These common little cabbage butterflies appeared to be doing some type of mating ritual. They would only flutter wildly in each other's presence.

 Here was a quiet little guy, not normally seen around here, the Duskywing Moth. He's not flashy, but he is just as welcome as any other winged friend.

Mourning cloaks are even more rare, at least here. He was good at posing though, and let me take a lot of pix.

If you are familiar at all with butterflies, you'll know that they often like to settle on mud, to withdraw minerals from the soil. I saw this tiny little Eastern tailed blue butterfly circling around the bare ground where we just put in grass seed. She was so busy, that I knew I had little chance of getting the shot. But I finally gave up on the macro setting, and instead used the regular one and zoomed in from a little farther out. I just wished she would have opened up her wings so we could see the pretty lavender color inside.

 Skippers of various kinds are always seen here. They may be a little common, but they still make me smile. 

This Painted Lady was the least shy of any butterfly I've ever seen. She posed over and over again, with her wings stretched wide to show off her beauty.

Another good reason to love September are all of the dahlias in bloom. For years, I would plant them, then forget to dig up the tubers which aren't hardy here. Last year, I finally dug them up, but then neglected to put them safely into peat moss for storage. They just shriveled up and died. This year, I hope to do it right and save them for next year.

It's only been a month since we finished making our tiered herb garden. But the plants have really and filled in during that time. I'm so glad we did this. I use my herbs much more often now that they are so easy to get to outside the kitchen door. Now to remember to preserve the herbs for winter.

I particularly like this Magic Michael basil, just because it's lovely.

And just so you know it's me, one gratuitous shot of the ever gorgeous Queen Red Lime zinnias. You know you wanted to see one, admit it.

Summer Winding Down

Kids are heading back to school, and summer is coming to a close. In actuality, it will still feel like summer for weeks. Even when it begins to feel like fall, my garden will still look good for a few months yet. I often think how fun it would be to garden year round, but honestly, I enjoy the rest period during winter. And I do like the way everything sort of peaks at the end of summer.

We finally found a few hours to finish our herb garden project. It was pretty easy, the hardest part was planning out how we wanted to make it. The actual construction only took a few hours. Another difficult part was finding fresh herbs to plant at the end of the summer.  Before, I had some herbs scattered about the garden. Now I have easy access right outside the back door.

It hasn't been my best butterfly and moth year. I haven't seen a single monarch or buckeye yet, and very few swallowtails. My sedum Autumn Joy is about to bloom, and that's guaranteed to bring more butterflies. But what is interesting is the more uncommon species that have stopped by. I had to do some digging to find out this is a six spotted forester moth,

this is a false crocus geometer moth,

and this is a dogbane tiger moth.

 There were even some "fake" butterflies that turned out to be a Tiger Bee fly.

Silver spotted skippers, 

common skippers that I can never keep straight, 

and cabbage moth/butterflies are common visitors. Since I don't grow any cabbage crops, they don't bother me a bit.

 And the few swallowtails that do stop by are more than welcome here as summer winds down.

Summer Lovin'

My love of summer is no secret to anyone. It may be hot, sticky, dry, whatever. I still love it!

Mostly, I love summer because the flowers are in bloom.

All summer long, one after the other, they bloom, and bloom, and bloom.

Now it may not have been the best summer I've ever seen in my garden. There have been casualties.

 But no matter what, there has been something blooming all during this long, hot summer.

There are plenty of other things that I like about summer time. The birds, bees, bugs, and butterflies that visit during the summer are always welcome here.

Believe it or not, there are non-garden related things that I like about summer. Probably the best part to me is simply being warm. I'm one of those people that are often cold. I feel like I spend the whole winter just trying to get warm. No such problem this summer, I've been plenty warm the whole time!

I also like the long days, fresh summer produce, bare feet, vacation trips, beaches, and all the other wonderful things that make up the best season of all. Oh, and the flowers. Did I mention the flowers?