Point of view - August edition

I realize that I have been a very negligent garden blogger recently. Frankly, it seems that I have often been too busy gardening to find time to write about it. It has been a remarkably busy season.

But one thing that I have been trying to do consistently this year is show you my garden each month from a particular point of view, in order to illustrate how the garden changes and evolves through the year. The point that I chose to aim my camera from is just in front of my garden shed and looking back toward my house and my neighbor's backyard. If you click on each month below (except for June which I skipped), you can follow the changes to this part of my garden this year.

January

February

March

April

May

June - I didn't do a POV post since I was out of town.

July

And now, here's how this space looks in August.

The first thing you might notice is Bubba the garden cat who always wants to get into these shots. The second thing you might notice if you compare this to previous months is that the grass and some of the shrubs are beginning to look a bit yellow. The grass in particular is suffering from lack of water. Even the beds have not been watered as much as they would have liked. You might also be able to tell that some of the shrubs have been cut back severely. They had become overgrown and, also, this helps to encourage fall blooms.

A slightly different angle. Oh, you might also be able to see that the mulch has been renewed in the beds in the last month.

Walking down the path a bit farther. Oops, I just noticed I forgot to put away my tools before I began taking pictures. Oh, well, this is a working garden and if you walked into it any day you would probably see the garden cart, shovel, hoe, and hose out in plain view.

Pointing my camera to the right toward the pond, the magnolia tree and the house in the distance. Can you tell that the Anisacanthus wrightii hedge on the right has been cut back by about a third since last month? The shrubs were sprawling all over the place so as soon as they completed their cycle of bloom, I cut them 'way back. This was about three weeks ago and they've already grown since then. Soon they will be full of blooms again - more blooms than they would have had without the whacking they got.

Walking farther down the path, you can see some of the orange blooms of the 'Pride of Barbados' on the left. Orange is certainly the color of August in my garden. In the distance, just beyond the garden cart is the orange of the Hamelia patens or Mexican firebush which truly appears to be on fire with its many blossoms. Also, next to the patio, you can see the orange blooms of the 'Tropicannas.'

And just a bit closer, you can see the orange even better and Charlie the garden cat enjoying the shade of the sycamore tree on the right.

The lush growth period of the garden is over now and it has begun its slow decline into fall and winter. Some mornings when I step outside now the air feels almost fresh and brisk, with just a hint that autumn truly may be on its way. It can't come too soon for the garden or for me.