Lots of pretties at the end of August.

It's hard to believe August is almost over and school is just about to start.  It feels like summer just began.  There is still a lot blooming and still a few more flowers to come.  I've been working on having more blooming towards the end of summer and going into fall.  It seems though, that a lot of the late summer bloomers don't last quite as long.  There are other flowers that seem to have been blooming for months like hardy fuchsias, agastache, hydrangeas and Monarda.  
I've also been moving lots of plants around.  For some reason that urge always seems to strike when we are having our hottest weather of the summer, which means extra watering trying to save the freshly moved plants.  I know it's not when you are supposed to move plants, but aside from the extra watering, the plants seem to do fine.

 Rose of Sharon 'Minerva'.  It seems to bloom right when the leaves decide to yellow and fall off every year.  I love the flowers, but it's not my favorite looking plant otherwise.

 Chelone or Turtlehead is looking really pretty right now.  It would probably like more water than it gets.

 Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' bloomed very late and has lots of tiny flowers this year.

 Daylily 'Ruby d'Oro'

 Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue'

 The entry garden - Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue', Fuchsia 'Pat's Dream' and Rose 'Harlow Carr'.  This rose has really prickly canes.

 Echinacea 'Green Envy'

 Dahlia

 Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Red Valerian on the right and Crocosmia, that was sent to me by Darla a couple of years ago, on the left.

 Kniphofia 'Border Ballet' is new to my garden this year.

 Sunflowers are just starting to open.

 The unknown pink rose ('Heritage'?) with Cupid's Dart behind it.

 I planted what I thought was supposed to be a small sunflower (18" high on the packet) in the raised beds.  The leaves on this are HUGE.

 It was a bit overcast when I took pictures today.  The small shrub by itself is a replacement Mexican Orange (Choysia) for the one that didn't survive the move when I divided the bed back in February.

I've started pulling annuals out of pots and thinking about what I'll plant in them for fall.  It's sad getting rid of the summer bloomers, but it is fun starting fresh with at least a few containers.  I've sown seeds for fall vegetables for the first time.  So far I've got Chard 'Bright Lights', Carrots, radishes and beets.  I plan to start some Kale and Pak Choy soon too.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

The Pond in August.

First I wanted to thank everyone who stopped by to comment on my last post.  We went on a vacation to Southern California about a week ago and the sun and the beach were relaxing and made me excited to get back in the garden again.  I did love seeing the gardens there and was surprised at how many plants I recognized after seeing them on many blogs that I follow.   I took quite a few pictures at the Mission San Juan Capistrano and will share them on another post. 
When we returned home the temperature was up in the 90's so it was a little hot to garden, but while I watered I saw how things were doing and realized that a weed that used to appear in one area of my yard seems to be taking over everywhere.  After doing some research I found that it's called Oxalis corniculata.  My Mom told me to try plain old vinegar on it.  Has anyone tried this?
I also realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the pond this month and thought I share them in this post.

Water Lily 'Charles de Meurville' has it's first bloom of the year!  The water lilies have really been slow this year and I'm beginning to think they may be done for the season already.

The girls were playing behind the pond while I watered.  Sweet Pea made them crowns of ferns and Hosta leaves to wear.

Fuchsia magellanica is blooming like crazy and has spread up towards the waterfall.

Turtlehead (Chelone) is a little past it's prime, but I thought I'd take some pictures anyway.

Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' is still blooming, although the flowers are much smaller.

Hydrangea 'Limelight' was added right before we went away and dried out a bit, but it looks like it'll be fine.

Bugbane (Actaea racemosa) was moved again earlier this year and seems to like it's new spot behind the pond.

This view is similar to the one at the bottom of my blog.  I did a lot changing since then.  The flowers that were here before didn't bloom until the end of summer leaving not much of interest the rest of the year.  I'm hoping the Japanese Blood Grass will keep filling in between the Heucheras.

I'm hoping to get out and do some cleanup on the front yard this weekend and am looking forward to going plant shopping soon.