August: A Garden of Splendor and Promise.

August is a busy, productive month.  Harvesting the fruit and vegetables is in full swing.  Take a moment to stop and absorb the beauty of it all.  I spent a few minutes today taking some pictures of the garden.  Sit back and enjoy the view!

     

     

The flowers in August are simply stunning.  Most of these are perennials since I don't have a lot of time to spend growing annuals.  From left to right, a very fragrant phlox, an intricate lavatera, some sunshiny rudbeckia and lace-capped hydrangea.

Not to be outdone, the vegetable garden is in full beauty now too.  Check out these flowering vegetables.

      

 

Above, dainty, white flowers grace the potato plants.  A pea bloom displays its own delicate beauty. Bean blossoms promise beans into September!  And lastly, a huge squash blossom invites a honeybee in for pollination. 

Now the flowers aren't the only beautiful things in the garden.  The growing vegetables and fruit are gorgeous and tempting in their own way.  Green tomatoes give a promise of great things to come!  Tiny pickling cucumbers are ripening in the garden.  The change from green to purple in the corn silk indicates corn will be ready soon. 

A plump pea pod awaits picking.    Lush edamame plants are beginning to form soy beans, green pumpkins will be brilliant in a few months and purple beets add color to the garden.  Thick green onion tops, rainbow chard, and flowering tomato plants add color and fullness.   

Juicy blackberries, ripe blueberries, and green grapes provide a rich intensity and a heady fragrance on a hot summer day.  Green ever-bearing raspberries indicate more fruit in the fall.

      

      

So while you are busy gathering, preparing and preserving your garden's bounty, stop a minute and see the beauty your garden has, at every different stage.  Notice the butterflies and bees pollinating your garden.  Take a moment to study the tiny creatures you find there.  A garden creates endless work, but a lot of joy, and stunning beauty.