Friday, August 13, 2021

Far too hot and we need rain!


The daylilies are over.  I don't have many as they are not my favorite, however they were pretty this year as they now seem to have changed to double blooms......don't ask me how!


Sunflowers I do love but it is another summer with none surviving in my garden - all the seeds I planted were devoured by wildlife. These were from another summer a few years back when the deer and squirrels apparently weren't as hungry!


The two fawns are still around and looking healthy. They stick together and make a beeline for my neighbors tomatoes - I admit to chasing them off. Well not really chase, when they see me coming with the camera these skittish babies are gone in a flash!



This one is under the fig tree, looking back at me sneaking out the front door.  

Speaking of figs. . . . . .they have actually become a nuisance this year - just too many, too high to pick - so the over ripe ones are now falling and covering the lawn and splattering onto the driveway. This means constant hosing down to prevent walking them into the house. What will we do?  Bob is talking of taking the tree down!  Me, no way could I do that, I love this tree. However, what we thought was a good pruning last year - but seems to have made the tree put out more very healthy growth - must be repeated, and in a more drastic way, especially cutting back the horizontal spread. I will be discussing this with my tree guy later this fall. I must add that the bees are loving the ripe figs. I will do a lot to help bees, and if we leave them alone they stay away from us. 



Brown Thrasher enjoying figs.

Our heatwave continues, no rain this week. Heat index made it well over 100F the past two days and will again today. Thunder rumbled off in the distance last evening but not a drop fell from the cloudy sky. Forecast shows possible rain each afternoon, hopefully some will come.
The garden really looks sad as far as blooms - nothing pretty to cut and bring inside so I'll buy flowers later today when I stop at Trader Joe's!  Even the basil appears to be giving up the ghost. . . . . .perhaps I can make one more batch of pesto for the freezer this the weekend. 
I am not a summer person. I prefer cool, even cold air. I grew up in rain, fog, mist, often clothed in a waterproof Mackintosh, Wellington boots, wool sweaters, armed with an umbrella much of the time. Yes, here in the southeast, August is my most disliked month and I'm ready for autumn which can't arrive soon enough!!!


10 comments:

  1. Dear Mary - sorry to learn that your garden is suffering in the heat and that the deer have gobbled up all of your sunflowers. I have just discovered that the deer arrived in our garden in the middle of the night and gobbled up all of our scarlet geraniums. Fortunately the Nepeta has proved to be a success, they do not touch it. I planted our sunflowers as an after thought very, very, late in the season so they have yet to flower, but I expect that the deer will find them.
    I am like you, I cannot stand the heat, here it is warm, bright and sunny, which suits me fine. Hope that the heatwave over much of Europe does not travel here. I am finding it really frightening that so much of the world is currently on fire.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dearest Mary,
    Oh, sure too many big fat ripe figs this year, but let nature feast on them!
    Ours fall on the concrete walkway behind the house and is less of a nuisance and easily hosed clean as the hose is hanging right at hand.
    Strange that you hate the summer time climate. We both LOVE it and never had any problem. Living for three years in the tropics made us feel miserable even during the very short southeastern winters here. But I could do without them and their dull brown looking lawns and little green.
    Oh sure, wildlife can take over our yards, that is the downside of it. But you can't have it all.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am not a Summer person either \mary- Spring and Autumn usually suit me fine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Where would you have to go to find that kind of weather today, Mary? That sweater weather?

    I am content to sit in the AC and wait for the turnaround, which seems likely come next week. How frustrating about the figs. Hope you get some, at least.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Mary :) Well, summer is a good season for me (with A/C)!!! :) Which...we chose not to install this year to save money but omg I regret it. We are in day 3 of a heat wave too and it's brutal. Lovely photos of the fawn! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I live in the Midwest but I don't like the heat and humidity of Summer. I can imagine it is much worse for you down South! Stay cool and I hope you get the rain you need!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I leave most of my figs for the critters that visit, but I tell them to stay away from my plums. This year we will have plenty of plums to share. Since our hydrangeas got burned in the hot weather there isn't much to pick, so I recently brought flowers home from Trader Joe's too.
    I was always a summer girl, since growing up in California. Now I am beginning to agree August is a rough month, but I find January is my other least favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely pictures of deer and other wildlife!
    I used to be very much a summer person, and for a few years in my early to mid forties, I had the impression that the older I got, the more trouble I had with cold weather. Now it seems I have turned a corner when turning 50 three years ago - it is now the heat I find harder to bear than the cold.
    Hopefully, your area will soon see that baldy needed refreshing rain.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This past week has been hot and humid here in S.W. Ontario, the rain showers we have been having almost every day, has kept the garden and lawns well watered, but it also increases the humidity. Thank goodness, we have A/C. My favourite months are Spring and Summer, as I go older not fond of the cold we have here.
    The fawns are so cute, we have them in our garden also. Those figs look delicious, the bees and birds think so too.
    Stay cool.
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, the deer are beautiful Mary. They look like they are part of the furniture of the garden. I used to have an orange day lily like that, and now you have reminded me that it has disappeared! We will have to buy a replacement. It really does sound hot, and I could only dream of having too many figs. They are beautiful to eat in the Summer. Take care. xxx

    ReplyDelete

I would enjoy reading your comment - thanks so much for stopping by.