The August Garden

The garden has been doing fine this year. Here's a photo of my artsy tree. Seven or eight years ago, I brought home a Blue Star Juniper standard from a customer who wasn't able to keep it looking good. It was half dead. So I planted it- nothing to lose. Even with my care and neglect, it did not survive. So I trimmed it and stripped the bark off. The dead mini-tree sits near the entrance to our back yard.
Over the years I have spray painted it silver, gold, copper. A few people noticed but most just overlooked it. This year I had spray painted the horseshoes red and blue. With the can of red in my hand, I looked at the tree and thought red and blue might be more artistic? I even painted a mock orange branch red and stuck it into the fence. (can be seen in the background.)

Last year a friend gave us some four o'clock seeds (thanks Diane). I have never grown Four o'clocks before. I planted a few here and there once the soil had warmed. They grew easily. They flowered profusely in red, pink, white and yellow. They grow to about 24-30 inches high. Now they are starting to produce seeds. Lots of seeds. Collected a bunch, but most are falling on the ground. We'll see if they will come up next year on their own. And, will they become a weed in the garden by coming up too much.

Another flower I tried this year was Strawflower. I was surprised at how tall they grew. The flowers, as they matured, dried to the texture of straw. I cut some and hung them upside dow to dry. The stems, however are weak. It's probably best to use wire instead of the natural stems. The natural stems flop over and the bouquet looks like it is falling down.

Hibiscus- there are a number of lovely plants in this family. The Southern Belle types have large single flowers. Like all hibiscus, they only last a day, but a mature plant can have many blossoms that give the illusion that they are all flowering at once.

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