by summer in the backyard
A glimpse into some of the best in our backyard right now:
a type of trailing lotus plant, maybe this one, in the hanging basket,
a red bee balm or monarda,
and ripening red currants for a sweet tart taste of summer!
This July is a hot one, at least for me, who dislikes the heat and what it does to me. Ten months of the year we have rain, then two months of drought in the summer. Usually Vancouver’s hottest period is mid-July to mid-August, but now I’m dreading that it will be all summer. Most of us in older homes do not have air-conditioning here, and we have still not installed my hoped for watering system in our large garden, so both garden and I are constantly hot and dry! I have so many blogposts I’ve wanted to write but I’m too hot and tired for words, so then I fall back on more garden photos to show off.
How is your summer, my friends?
July 12, 2008 in Home, Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
Cold and damp now! A couple of weeks of summer a week or so ago, and I got used to coffee outside in the morning, now it feels like October. Still, at least we don’t have to worry about the dog in the car…
Lovely colours in these, I like the top one.
Cool and damp says it. Horrendous thunderstorm the other night, leaving everything looking scrubbed, clean, and bedraggled.
August will probably be a Sahara Desert scorcher.
Terrific! When it’s raining I can’t be expected to garden
I love these sort of photographs. Can’t have enough of them. The weather here has varied between cool and cold, rain and showers, grey and sunny intervals. When I was a lad, before global warming, there were: long, hot summer days buzzing with bees and wasps, alive with butterflies when you wanted to laze in the shade all afternoon; warm evenings to gaze up at the stars; and sticky nights where you kicked the blankets off your bed. Where have all the butterflies gone?
Though we’ve had some awful heat, so far it hasn’t been as bad as other summers have been. But, there is still time for that. I love puttering in the garden in the morning before the sun has heated up the world and also in the evening, when the sun goes over the hill and everything is beginning to wind down. Happy gardening to you!!
summer? what summer? cold and wet and horrid. Lots of growth in the garden though with all the rain…
We have had some terribly hot days, and for about a week, we had thunderstorms every single day. This weekend was lovely – a bit hot during the day, but breezy wonderful evenings. Today, rain and thundershowers are predicted, but the next couple of days are supposed to be beautiful. I’m trying to get out to the seashore this weekend for the first time this summer (I used to spend every weekend at the beach when I was younger!).
Lovely flowers in your garden!
Lucy, sorry to hear about the cold and damp, hope the weather warms up for you soon! Maybe having a lovely spring means a poor summer? It’s been the opposite here so far.
Peter, there too? May it be better soon.
Joe, thanks, I’ve gone back to using our bigger camera and I’m so pleased with the results. Variable weather, eh, hope it keeps getting better. We could use some of that rain, having had one day this month where it come down hard with a little thunder.
Joan, you do live in a hot part of the States, don’t you? Early morning and later evening ARE so lovely.
Rosie, sounds like you are having what was our spring weather, and yes, the growth is amazing then! Hope it gets better from now on.
Leslee, your weather sounds like what I experienced as a child growing up in Winnipeg. I remember one very hot day when we had a tremendous thundershower, the streets ran like a river and we kids were in bathing suits jumping merrily in it, reveling in the cooling splashes. Ah, this makes me crave such a rain right now! Hope you make it to the seashore!
Later… Oops, Barrett, sorry I missed you! Yeah, rain gives one a break in more ways than one. I so wish we had rain so I wouldn’t have to be out there dragging the garden hose around every day. I still haven’t done all the garden jobs because of the rain in the spring, now the heat. Aw, I’m such a complainer!
Oh, you grew up in Winnipeg? Funny, Sunday night I went with my movie group to see My Winnipeg, which was decidedly weird, though it had some very funny moments and an, um, interesting approach, and was worth seeing. Anyway, no hot summer days in this movie, just snow, snow and more snow!
Leslee, I vaguely saw something about that movie, and you’ve now piqued my interest, thanks. Yes, Winnipeg is usually VERY cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer, typical prairie weather. I must say for an overheated moment there I liked the idea of snow.
Our summer is beautiful – not hot enough to need more than a fan yet, and not too many days of rain. We Montrealers have to celebrate every single perfect day; February and March are still recent memories!
Beth, your summer sounds perfect! Though I keep saying we could use some rain right now, we do get more than our share during the other three seasons. I’ve read that we have a high forest fire risk, and fires too, in many areas of BC right now.