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august hard month

Greetings from East Central Iowa:

What's blooming in my garden in August, you ask? More important than the
blooms is the fact that our nearly 2-month drought has ended. There's
almost adequate moisture now, temperatures are cooler and its great to
be in the garden.

Wide swing in temps. We've gone from 99 degrees to mid- and upper 70s
for highs. Gotten to the low 50s at night. Is autumn going to make an
early visit this year?

August generally is a slow month in my garden, except this season. There
are many plants yet in bloom: purple and white coneflower; red, pink and
white phlox; veronica, including Sunny Border Blue that keeps blooming
and blooming; blue scabiosa; loosestrife; obedient plant; late-season
daylilies; 4 varieties of coreopsis; several varieties of hosta
including a huge, huge clump of the old "August lily" with wonderfully
scented large white trumpets that "smell up" the back yard nicely;
yarrow (almost done); and one mum (purple) that's too early.

On the shrub side, Annabelle and Peegee hydrangea are abloom, as is
clethra (summersweet). I especially enjoy the clethra for their scented
flowers. I have to miniature clethra by the front door; an old
regular-sized clethra by the deck entrance; and the pink "hummingbird"
variety, also a fairly large grower, at the entrance to a perennial
border. These, plus scented varieties of hosta, are really the "wows"
right now.

Roses in bloom: several floribundas in red, pink and white; a couple of
big shrub roses that bloom off and on throughout the season. The shrubs
also are scented, adding more glory to the backyard plots. One is near
our bedroom window; with the cool nights, I leave it open to allow the
delightful scent to enter (when the breeze is in the right direction).

I'm sitting here typing when I could be outside sniffing. Oh well, I do
enjoy conversing with other growers!

Enjoy!

John G. Adney
Marion, Iowa
on the line of zones 4, 5

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