Good morning, gardeners, and welcome to the Saturday Morning Garden Blog!
"I woke to the sound of rain." ~ Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Every year around Labor Day, i'm happy to send summer on its way. It's not that it wasn't fun; it was! But by the time September rolls around, the summer months have taken their toll.
On the whole, it was a dry and blistering summer here in the Pacific Northwest. So brutal was the heat, so unprecedented was the lack of rain that local vintners are harvesting their wine grapes a month ahead of time. In other areas of the state, the consequences of the summer drought were nothing less than catastrophic. Wildfires were out of control with blazes so deadly that President Obama authorized federal aid for the relief efforts. Less than two weeks ago, the word SMOKE was superimposed on our local weather forecasts. Everyone and everything was praying for the clouds to roll in ...
And last week, our prayers were answered. It finally started to rain.
Officially speaking, "fire season" will last for a few more weeks. But heroic fire suppression efforts, aided by the increased moisture in the air, seem to indicate that the worst of it has passed. In my little corner of the globe, the roses rejoiced ...
As did the bees ...
Suddenly, flowers that were apathetic looked a little more enthusiastic ...
Even the magnolia pushed out one last flower for the season ...
Although a few colorful petals are clinging to the last weeks of summer, there's no doubt about it. Autumn is on the way. The days are getting shorter. The foliage is turning ...
Much of the garden has gone to seed ...
But butter up a casserole because the apples are ready for picking ...
And it looks like we may finally enjoy some persimmons this year ...
In the plum trees, fruit still dangles, ripe and sweet. But we also discovered a nest of some kind nestled within the branches. It looks as if it may have seen better days ...
As is always the case with the coming of autumn, the rains bring with them a sweet relief; a period of recovery and growth. It was only a few weeks back that the soil seemed so unquenchable, i felt compelled to "rescue" two dying bushes and stick them into patio pots. Today, those bushes seem to be doing just fine ...
I suppose next Spring will tell the true story of what did or didn't survive in my garden. But until then, i'm happy to put this summer behind me. And i'm so happy it's finally raining again.
What's going on in your gardens?