The August garden feels like the peachy bloom in a year’s bouquet.  When I was a teacher (in that other life before flowers took over), August was a wild, crazy, exhausting month.  Since the flowers came, things have changed.  This year, August has been a gorgeous month.  We had a very hot, dry spell earlier that had us juggling water usage (and occasionally draining the well dry), but finally rain came and everything is green and lush again.

Misty mornings are definitely the time to be in the garden.  Our David Austin roses might struggle a bit with all that moisture, but that dewy light pouring through the trees makes you feel like you’ve stepped into another world.  If I can wrap my hands around a hot cup of coffee, I usually feel that all the hard work to get to this point has been worth it.

New Flowers for Us This Year

We tried several new things this year:  Rudbeckia (both Sahara and Cherry Brandy) in the foreground, and a trailing amaranth behind them.  The jury’s out yet, but I think they’ll all return next year.  Both come from Johnny’s Seeds, our favorite flower seed supplier.

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Pineapple mint was new for us this year, too.  I think I like it.  Occasionally a whiff of it will smell like someone has neglected to use deodorant.  If you tuck it in among other good smelling things, though, and don’t brush up against it too often, it’s pretty gorgeous.

Returning Favorites

Foxglove:  a biennial favorite.  The bees love it, too.  Sometimes I’ll surprise a little baby bumblebee tucked up in one of the little florets, apparently fast asleep.

What is summer without fresh peach pie?  A dry and barren wasteland, if you ask me.  Theo’s in downtown Cambridge makes delicious fresh peach pie, and I’ve had a slice or two.  Or maybe a few more.

When she flowers like this, a Zinderella zinnia is perfection.

Eucalyptus takes a long while to get started, but it’s a gem in our late summer and fall garden.  Once the stems have hardened a bit, they’ll last for a week or more in a vase.

The hardiest of perennials, yarrow blooms in August the first year it’s planted.  After that we can expect to see blooms in June or July and then sometimes again in the fall.

The sunflowers must love their location this year.  At more than ten feet tall, we’ve got the tallest crop we’ve ever grown.

Finally, blessedly, the time for dahlias is here.  They’ve endured a lot this year.  They were hot and cold, wet and dry by turns, but they’ve come through and are starting to flower their little heads off.

Summer sun on fragrant flowers and warm, languid air, that’s the magic of an August garden.

Rosita