Our Garden in Late August - Zone 7

Swallowtail nectaring on Phlox Victoria

The end of summer is coming whether or not we are ready for the tasks ahead. You know, the pruning, digging and dividing. Then there's the transplanting this year's plants to their better, new, location because trees grew and now it's too shady where they were or it's too dry where they are .....

Fewer flowers are blooming by late August but there are enough to keep the butterflies and skippers happy. The upside is that weeding takes less and less time as fall approaches.



Swallowtail caterpillar on parsley

This year we've had more dragonflies than ever, probably because there was some rain this summer unlike previous years.

Lots of projects present themselves at this time of year and although we spend 5 hours a day out there, we can't seem to get it all done.







The parsley did better this year than usual and since we plant it for the Swallowtail butterflies to raise their babies on, whenever there is one it's cause for celebration.

Pumpkins suffer in 100F temps

The pumpkins and squash seem shocked by the heat this week. We've harvested and eaten several zucchini. The dozen or so acorn squash we harvested we shared with friends and also baked a few.









I love to have baked and pureed winter squash in the freezer all winter. It becomes soup, cookies, tea cake and a thickener for casseroles. What I do not enjoy about growing squash is squash bugs.

Field peas

Many of my gardening experiments fail and we have nothing to show for the pack of seeds, carefully grown seedlings, water and fertilizer. However, the field peas are doing quite well for us. When to harvest them? I'm not sure and informational websites vary in their opinions - light green to grey/brown is the best I can surmise.

Squash vine borer 

Hope your garden is making  you happy!