Good morning, and where's August? Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
Denver's delightful weather has continued into the first full week of August, with the strong monsoonal flow bringing cooling afternoon thunderstorms. We haven't gotten a lot of rain falling in my neck of the woods — just a few brief smatterings adding up to less than a ½ inch of water — but I'll take it. Average temperatures are running about 3° below normal.
And the hardy hibiscus are finally coming into their own. It's about time; I planted them 3 or 4 years ago and have been waiting for the huge, show-stopping blooms to brighten the August garden.
Unfortunately the Japanese beetles have also discovered the hibiscus — see that little fucker in there? They munched away the entirety of the second flush of blooms on the rugosa hansa rose bush — and have damaged some of the canes to death. This weekend I'll trim out the dead canes. Fortunately the damage isn't plant-threatening, and a lot of new shoots are coming out below the dead portions of the canes. I really hate the Japanese beetles. I wish they would have stayed out of Colorado.
On the other hand, we've had very few aphids this year, so maybe I'll get a good crop of cauliflower.
Another good thing this year is that I've gotten some surprisingly vigorous self-seeding from the prairie zinnia. It's a touchy plant and although we've had it for more than a decade it hasn't spread far, seldom managing to get more than one or two volunteer plants per year… until this year. There are at least a dozen little plants. It's a desert plant, so I guess it saw this year's steady moisture as the signal to go for propagation. Although I don't usually like school-bus yellow xeric plants, the prairie zinnia mixes very well with self-seeding portulaca.
Same thing has happened with the lavender — under one of the plants there are at least a half-dozen volunteers. Next spring they'll be big enough to transplant to the base of the front porch where I've had difficulty keeping other things alive.
The tomatoes are finally starting to ripen, and the melons are still powdery-mildew free and loaded with baby melons.
It's just been a weird, weird year.
That's what's happening here. What's going on in your gardens?