August, and Summer Winding Down

I think that every one of my August posts is a tribute to the heat of summer. All the heat and humidity of summer comes to a head in August, and the garden starts to look bedraggled. Insects and disease takes their toll on my plants, and some of my containters peter out. But there are plenty of pretty spots, you just have to look past the rough parts to find it. 

The highlight of my August garden is centered on zinnias and sunflowers. I always grow a variety of zinnias and sunflowers, but I often have trouble starting them, since cutworms like to nibble the seedlings. This year, I scattered Sluggo pellets around every one of my zinnia and sunflower seedlings, and it worked. Every one of them came up and flourished. I'd still like to find a solution for the powdery mildew that plagues my zinnias. 

And sunny sunflowers give plenty of smiles. 

August is also the prime month for my monarch "operation". I call it that with tongue firmly in cheek, as it's a very small operation here. I've only raised about 30 of them this year. I never do tire of raising monarch caterpillars until they transform into butterflies! 

I haven't seen as many different types of butterflies here this year. But the common types are here frequently. I keep my eyes on all the critters that visit my nest, although some are less welcome than others. 

Indoors, I haven't done much crafting, but have prepared a few interesting things in the kitchen, and as usual, changed the seasonal decorations on my tiered tray. And I've been making plenty of small kitchen bouquets. 

Peach hand pies

Garden salsa

Fresh biscuits

As usual, I like to check in with my container gardens. Some look different, some look better than ever, and some just gave out on me. The ones who gave out will soon be refilled with fall plants, so it's not all bad.

I'm still waiting for the usual September rebirth of the roses, but a few of them popped out some blooms. 

When it cools off a bit, they should all perk up. 

It hasn't been the best year for our vegetable garden, I'm not sure why. But the tomatoes are coming on strong! Just today, I spent hours chopping them up for the freezer. Soon I'll turn them into spaghetti, soup, or salsa. We do have some late crops planted, I hope they turn out. Late in the summer, I spend a lot of time preparing my garden vegetables for the freezer, or making meals with them. That's probably why I don't craft much. The cantaloupe you see here was not planted, but came from our compost, apparently. I'm hoping to be able to harvest it eventually, but this happened another time and the fruit didn't make it. 

My garden may have its struggles this time of year, but trust me, there's still plenty to please my eyes. Early in the month, I opened my garden for tours locally, and a few people took me up on it. I timed it so that almost everything would still be in good repair. I wouldn't dare do so now at the end of the month. The first photo below shows the seedbeds of Duchess of Albany clematis, which I like even more than the flowers. 

And here we are looking at sunsets together! The unstable, humid air has given us some pretty sunset skies. But the days are getting shorter, and soon the sunsets will swing around the other way. I do love being able to see them from my front porch in the summer. Thanks for visiting Robin's Nest again this month, hope to see you back again at the end of September. I so appreciate every visitor that stops by!