Hello again gardeners and garden admirers!  It’s Betsy here.  Just wanted to reintroduce myself and say that it’s a pleasure to be updating you on the state of the gardens.  

The Cutting Garden in full September glory.

Labor day has come and gone.  How did that happen?  It still feels very much like high summer here at Blithewold.  Gail and I keep saying that if it weren’t for the changing angles of the light we would think that it’s still mid-July.  September has quickly become one of my favorite months in the gardens.  Every seed we sowed with hope and care this spring is a fully grown plant now showing all of its fabulous colors, and putting out seeds for next year.  Here are a few stunners that have been catching our eye:

In the midst of this heat, the race is on to get enough water to the gardens to keep the plants alive and happy.  There has barely been a day these past few weeks that we haven’t started working in a garden and said, “wow it’s so dry here” (I hope that by the time you are reading this, the rain has finally arrived!).   Luckily, we have plenty of hoses, sprinklers, and watering systems to fight the fight against the sun and wind.  As I’ve noticed in my own garden, the lack of rain has caused even some of my most drought tolerant plants to suffer.  I just added a layer of mulch to areas that never had much to start with this year.  I hope that when it does rain that extra little layer will help to keep the moisture in the plants.

What about you?  How has your garden fared in this dry, hot weather?  Any plants that have defeated the odds and performed well despite the lack of rain?