Where Did August Go?

A hot and steamy August just flew by here in Robin's Nest. I think mostly I was busy processing the vegetables we grow. Plus there was a vacation to enjoy at the end of the month. So I'm surprised that September is already here. August definitely brought heat and butterflies to Robin's Nest.

We may have had a few brief dry spells this summer, but over all, we've had more rain than usual. With more rain has come wild growth! I feel like every single plant, tree, shrub and flower has become way overgrown this year. I don't always know what to do with this excess growth. Remove the plant? Prune the extra growth? Use stakes to prop it up? I guess I do all of the above, depending on the situation. Hubs is a very orderly person, so plants flopping onto the lawn is a sticky point with him. Trying to make plants stay within their boundaries is not an easy task! Perhaps if I didn't feel the need to over plant every square inch of my garden, it wouldn't be an issue.

August often brings some plant losses. The vegetable garden starts to fade, annuals give out, insects take over, any number of things can happen. But these losses are often balanced out by some plants coming into their glory days. Usually it's the annuals that give their all in late summer. At my house, zinnias are the stars at the end of August. And with zinnias, I also see butterflies. It's a match made in heaven.

Another annual that brings in the butterflies is verbena bonariensis. This one grows easily from seed, and I never even plant it exactly. I take my seed packets, and simply throw them around. The nice thing about this plant is how airy they are. They simply mingle with whatever else you have growing. It also reseeds easily, but since seeds are so inexpensive, I buy a new packet every year and start scattering.

I raised and released 36 monarchs this summer before leaving on vacation at month's end. I'm not sure if anymore monarchs are still laying eggs in my garden, since the migration has already begun.

I'm still seeing a few roses here and there. It has cooled off, so we should see some more soon.

The dahlias and morning glories are looking good too. These Grandpa Ott morning glories never need replanting here in Ohio. They reseed too. And I never dig up my dahlias. I just plant new ones each year. Call me the lazy gardener if you will. It's the truth.

Sunflowers had a very late start this year, but I'm finally starting to see a few blooms. This also included the Mexican sunflowers. If our first frost holds off long enough, I should see some blooms before then. It's still probably six weeks away.

A few other random spots are still doing well.

As I said earlier, we ended the month with a vacation to Marco Island Florida, which is a favorite spot of ours. Since it was August, it was indeed hot and steamy in the extreme. It was much too hot to do anything but lay by the pool, but is that really a problem? Not in my book. With Hurricane Dorian approaching, and the humid weather, the sunsets were magnificent.

And so August came to an end. While we were away, typical September weather arrived early, even though the actual month had to yet to arrive. I always look forward to the clear, blue sky days of September. Hopefully that's just what we'll get!