Gulp, gulp, gulp... AH

We got our wish at last: 4 and 3/4" of rain over the last two days. The plants and the earth
had been very very thirsty.

In spite of the drought, the hardy ginger has been blooming for a month.

Beautiful flowers with a beautiful fragrance. Sweet, coconutty and very
strong. If we hadn't gotten rain it probably would have closed up shop
for the year, but now it'll probably keep going until a freeze cuts it down.

We have really enjoyed the 4 o'clocks this year. The last couple of
weeks they've looked terrible during the day but were still covered
with flowers that opened to release their sweet fragrance at night.

I hadn't grown Silverleaf Sunflower for several years but have been meaning to. At last, this year I finally grew some from seed. These are in a new bed at the edge of the lawn. They get about 5-6 feet tall and highly branched, so they are covered with flowers and bloom over a long period of time. One year we had a volunteer come up in the little field across from one of the pastures; it looked so picturesque there and like a beacon. And naturally it was a complete accident. lol

It seems to me that the Beautyberries turned earlier this year than usual. They turned last month.

The Japanese Beetles have been gone since late July, and these roses are blooming because I was watering new stuff that I'd put in recently. That might seem stupid in light of the dry spell, but we had been getting forecasts for rain.. besides, I can't wait until fall to plant a lot of the babies. Many are hot weather plants, which seem to do best for establishing for the next year when there's still heat. Also, I wouldn't be able to get to the front door.

I ended up coaxing every last drop from the rain barrels. So there are some flowers on 'Caldwell Pink'

'Nasturana'

and 'Clotilde Soupert'.

Here's looking forward to some cooler temperatures, at last.