Farewell to August

Some of the last roses of summer brought into the home:  ‘Comte de Chambord’ on the left and ‘Abraham Darby, ‘Marchesa Boccella’ and ‘Madame Ernest Calvat’ on the right

Friends, I’ve missed you! But such is the way as summer winds to a close and we ready for the return to to school and regimented schedules with less time for the garden. As I say farewell to August, I am filled with mixed feelings: On the one hand, the garden was at the peak of abundance and hot afternoons were spent plucking ripened tomatoes (homemade salsa every other day), watching butterflies, goldfinches and all manner of bees busying themselves amongst the blooms and taking long walks in the cool of the evening with my husband and Eva. I’ll be sad to see that go.
On the other, there were low points: strong storm winds stomping the garden so flat as though from the footsteps of a giant, innumerable pests from last winter’s mild temps (if I have to squish one more sawfly larvae I might go mad), fighting what feels like a losing battle to bindweed and groundivy, and roses that proved to be a disappointment.
August can make a gardener start to look forward to fall. Am I right? And September is glorious here in Pennsylvania. The light is never more golden, we are free from the oppressive humidity, the asters, anemones, mums and last of the roses shimmer like jewels amongst the backdrop of the changing leaves. And I begin to dream, already, of next spring and a fresh start.

See you in September….

By the by, if you, too, are imagining and planning next year’s garden, you might like to know that Heirloom Roses is offering a 25% discount by entering the code: ROSE at checkout. I think it’s good until August 30.