In the Garden: July & August
“When the blackberries hang
swollen in the woods, in the brambles
nobody owns, I spend
all day among the high
branches, reaching
my ripped arms, thinking
of nothing, cramming
the black honey of summer
into my mouth, all day my body
accepts what it is. In the dark
creeks that run by there is
this thick paw of my life darling among
the black bells, the leaves; there is
this happy tongue.”
Unpopular as this may be, I am not a big summer lover. I love the simplicity of spring, with all the fresh bulb flowers that bloom so easily after winter. The branches in bloom. The first perennials to arrive each year. By the time summer and its heat creeps in, what we are so fond of in spring is long gone. I’m slowly doing the work to add to our gardens, to fill the gap from June to August. I am actively trying to find my personal joy in the flowers that bloom late in the growing season (of course, picking blackberries will always bring me joy).
This year has made it abundantly clear that we need to once again supplement the beds with compost. But with the heat and so many rainless weeks, I’m trying to give our garden, as well as myself, a little grace. At least the dahlias are larger than last year!
Last year I added ‘Sweet Summer’ hydrangeas to our patchwork collection of perennials. Namely to take cuttings for our beautiful country club wedding, but also, I simply cannot resist a late summer hydrangea that can be harvested and carefully dried to work with in late autumn months. I told myself that I would save these hydrangea blooms for future projects, but they found their way into so many of our daily deliveries. That hint of pink is just heavenly to me.
'Sweet Summer’ hydrangea on July 25, 2022 and again on August 21, 2022
Our cottage border is bursting with too many things I’ve tried to cram into such a small space. But the verbena I transplanted last year and this Formosa Lily seedling survived and thrived enough to bloom! My hope for the coming months is to finish wrapping the cottage border around the entire cutting garden, with the help of a lot of Missouri native wildflowers!
Verbena and Formosa Lily on August 23, 2022
Formosa Lily in bloom on August 24, 2022
With the unrelenting heat and the fact that our cutting garden is in full sun from noon until dusk, I try to prioritize other areas of our property when I can’t be inside the garden. One place that requires routine maintenance to prevent it from returning to “the wild” is the patch of shade that connects our driveway to the garden side of our property. Overrun with vines, poison ivy, and other invasives, in years past I’ve never been able to make a dent in reclaiming it. This became my August project.
Here is a sneak peek of the edging I’m creating to help define the shade garden I started last year. All these stones are from our property—unearthed from decades of plant debris. What a treat it was to discover them while digging last year!
Cinnamon Basil, Blue Sage, and Northern Sea Oats on August 31, 2022
‘Hot Biscuits’ and ‘Coral Fountain’ Amaranth on August 31, 2022
Signs of future flowers are around the garden if I look for them. Three of six heirloom chrysanthemums that I added this year are looking good. This variety is ‘French Vanilla’ and wasn’t as appealing as the ‘Homecoming’ variety was to the rabbits. And this dahlia bud! I am so anxious. The variety is ‘Spartacus’ and perfect for my October weddings. Crossing my fingers for lots more buds in the coming weeks.