Catching Up: Flowers

69°f/19°C, cloudy most of the day with a high of 83°f. This is supposedly, the start of a cooler week, for which we are so grateful.

Our flower gardens are suffering badly from lack of rain.  I water almost every day but it's no substitute for a good rain or even just a shower. Somehow, though, there are still plenty of blooms. Plenty of weeds too! Crabgrass is so insidious in the way it covertly spreads its tentacles. I have been pulling it and other weeds here and there but things are looking a little shaggy. Maybe now that the bullk of canning is done, I will have time to get after the weeds. Not this week though. We both have a variety of appointments that will have us away from home for part of just about every day this week. Bah. (Oh, and Angie, yes I was out of jars, but I bought 4 dozen. So today I canned tomato soup, and green beans.)

Anyway, here's some of what's still in bloom.

The roses put on a brief show last week but the heat wiped them out before I could even get pictures. These two are latecomers, and just so pretty and fragrant. Fragrance was my to o priority when choosing my roses.

Look who came to visit! I had never bothered to identify these little butterflies,  thinking they were moths. They look like small Great Fritillaries,  but these are called Pearl Crescent. Their markings are so delicate. There were quite a few out there working the butterfly weed.

And speaking of butterflies, two Monarchs were also visiting, favoring the Lantana and the butterfly bush. Can you see them? They are hardy to make out, I think.

These zinnias were a gift from my friend Lynne, and have been pretty happy here, mingling with the geraniums.

Aha! Here is the other photo of the Monarchs. Blogger decided to rearrange my order. Can you see them? One at top left the other bottom right. Not a good photo, but i didn’t want to scare them off.

That chair really isn't floating in darkness! It's just in the shade.

The rusty wagon and tub are supposed to go to a booth, as soon as Larry gets them cleaned up. They should sell as autumn outside decor. The wash tub full of flowers was a catch-all for bits and pieces left over from planters. It has done quite well. 

The hardy little drift roses continue to bloom, but the grapevine, divested now of grapes, is drying up and dropping leaves.

Victoria salvia is an annual, but occasionally it winters over. It has always done well here. 

Well, that's a few anyway. Time for bed!