August Brings It's Own Beauty

The Oriental lilies are blooming!

The Cana in the patio pots have been sending up bloom stalks and now the first ones are opening. There will be orange, yellow, and red ones. Very August color. 

When Tom picked flowers for me to arrange last week, he also filled the blue bottle vases I put out each summer on a patio table. I was so pleased that he did that, as they had been sitting empty all this time. Now I will make an effort to keep them fresh. 

Everything still is an effort these days - I was back at urgent care for more digestive tract issues on Wednesday - but I am hopeful for smoother days ahead. I want to be able to enjoy the rest of my summer.

In one of my walk abouts in the yard - that's where I get my exercise these days - I carried my phone to see what was looking new or good. 

There is a very tall sunflower growing over the top of the dahlias, 

And another with multiple faces. 

Finally, the first few blooms on the sweet peas. They have been poking along since spring. Because tall trees now shade the vegetable garden much of the day, especially in spring when the sun isn't as high, our garden doesn't produce very well, and most things grow tall reaching for the sun.

Down at the bottom of the garden the butterfly bushes are blooming but I hadn't seen many butterflies. 

Just then a Western Swallowtail landed. Sorry for the unclear photos. My phone camera was pressing it's limits. 

More lilies are blooming down in the island bed in the lower garden. 

Clematis and roses.

From these photos you can see that the exuberant growth of summer had produced a bit of a ramble. It will just have to stay a bit unkempt this year until fall clean up. The chief snipper/groomer is on recovery leave. 

Japanese Anemones are invasive, so we have tried to eliminate them, but they are also pretty, so we tolerate them when they do show up. They bring freshness in tired August.  

After days of bright sunny weather and temps in the low to mid eighties, we are having a cool, cloudy, lightly rainy morning. It's refreshing. We are assured that blue skies will return.