Perhaps It's Time to Prune?

The weather in metro-Atlanta has been just plain nasty lately, with temps in the mid-to-high 90's every day for what seems like months!  To top it off, every day the weather forecast is for a "30% chance of showers....as long as your house is facing east, painted blue, and a Dutch Colonial"....do I sound bitter?  Seriously, the weather pattern has been so bizarre, the Big House sometimes gets 2 inches of rain in an hour, and at home, we get none (or vice versa).  Fortunately the Big House (where I get paid to make it beautiful) has a great irrigation system; unfortunately the Stepchild Garden does not.  Every time I go outside at home, I am reminded of the Hefty bag commercial, but in this case it's "crispy, crispy, crispy...."

Certain of the plants, however, are delighting in this weather.  Here's a shot of one section of the perennial border at home.  Everything is toast except for Rudbeckia and Verbena bonariensis, which are about waist high!  Those other things are the tops of the Lythrum "Morden's Pink," which really need to be pruned, but they're going to need to wait for a cloudy day.

A little further down the way, here is the arbor that marks the entrance to the garden at home.  The moonvine and New Dawn rose are so out of control at this moment, they are both reaching out to grab unsuspecting children who walk by on the way to the bus stop.  I like my friends, and I want them to visit (no, really, I do.....but in August I really just like the moonvine more......)

                                

Have a fabulous and cool day.......

Moon Vines and Luna Moths

The moonvine is one of my favorite flowering plants, for a number of reason.  First, I know of very few flowers that are that incredibly white; second, it seems every moon vine flower I've ever seen has been perfectly formed.  Most importantly, though, they are the perfect symbol (in my opinion) of the sensuality of summer nights in the South.  This is a photo of the moonvine from last summer.
                           
There are many people who can't wait to escape the South in the heat of summer, but I'm not one of them.  To me, there is something magical about the heavy air and even heavier fragrances that one finds in the South at night in the summertime.  The rest of you can have that cool mountain air....give me Charleston or New Orleans in July......

Recently, the moon vine on the front arbor has just taken off, on its way to completely covering the structure with a blanket of green. It's not even showing buds yet, so there's still a long time to wait for those blooms.  Last night I was watering some of the parched things in the Stepchild garden, though, and saw one of those (equally magical) luna moths on the trunk of a sweetgum tree.  In my very vivid imagination, I decided it was resting there until the moonvine blooms, so it can help with pollination.

 I know that this particular moth is not going to live for more than a week, but I'm enjoying the fantasy.