The White Scents of Summer

We were walking home from dinner around 10 last night, on one of those cool evenings that happen so rarely in Georgia in August. There was a slight breeze, and with each step through our own garden, there seemed to be another wonderful scent coming our way. This is the time when the white flowers seem to take over the evening garden.

As we walked under the arbor, we saw the giant flowers of the moon vine opening for the night, releasing that wonderful light fragrance. Further down the paniculata hydrangeas were filling the air with their citrus-y scent, as they've been doing for a few weeks now. Rounding the corner, the first bloom of the white ginger was visible in the light, and its aroma is nothing short of intoxicating!

As we approached the door, we were overwhelmed with the fragrance from the white "Four O'Clocks" that self seed themselves all over that area. Even Sadie the Dog couldn't resist pushing her nose into the cluster of blossoms. Just a few days ago I was complaining about how poorly behaved the Four O'Clocks are, popping up everywhere, and questioning if I should try one more time to eradicate them from the garden......after last night's stroll, I'm convinced it's worth putting up with a little bit of unruliness.

Figs, Glorious Figs!

August is fig season in metro Atlanta, which makes the heat and humidity somehow easier to tolerate.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been watching the figs slowly get bigger on the tree, knowing that it's time for the annual "poker game" with the squirrels and birds. Sometimes I feel as though we are all watching to see when they'll be just right for picking, and it's always an "Aha!" moment when I get to the fruits before the critters do.

Walking along the path this morning, there were six figs perfectly ripe for the picking (the tree is in part shade, so we're typically a week or so behind everyone else). Of course they were at the top of the tree, so it meant getting out the ladder and a pair of clippers to climb up there, but it's definitely worth the work. Looking up at them in the sunshine, they were literally dripping with that sticky liquid the birds adore so much.

Most of us have emotional attachments to certain gardening activities, and for me, eating figs off a tree definitely falls into that category. Is there anything quite so sensual as biting into a fig, and feeling that sticky sweet juice pouring onto your hand?

I left the five prettiest fruits in a basket on the porch for "Mrs.," but just couldn't resist the temptation standing there on the ladder, clippers in one hand, the warm ripe fig in the other.....

Are we sure it was an apple that got Adam expelled from Eden?

August in Georgia is Not for The Faint of Heart

According to the television news anchors, this isn't officially the "Dog Days of Summer," but you couldn't tell that by the weight of the air as I walked around the garden. Some of the more delicate plants have retired until the cooler weather of September, but there are a few hardy plant souls out there that are just loving this heat!

From the top: The liriope earns its keep in August with those great purple spikes; "Honeycomb" Buddleia; Paniculata Hydrangeas; Crocosmia, and the Turtleheads that are just starting to break into bloom.