This is what I see across the fjord: And this is how my "Stargazer" looks poor thing: At least the summer flowering heather "Kathinka" is doing well: The yellow larkspurs self-seed everywhere, and are the only things that will grow underneath the blue juniper: The small primroses have started again: Heirloom Crocosmia, from my mother's mother's garden:
Pardon me while I drool over the snow capped mountains .........okay, keyboard is now dried off so I can continue. I can understand your frustration Droopy. Just about the time the garden gets growing nicely, the weather starts cooling down and damages the blooms. Your summer is too short and mine is too long.
toni, I'll post more photos of the mountains if you like them so much! They never look the same, and now I can't see them at all. Clouds and very heavy rain. Fortunately, we have plants for all seasons except mid-winter, so there's always something to enjoy. But I always feel sad when autumn comes.
I love pics of mountains ^_^ We dont have any here in flat ol' Indiana I ought to find my mountain pics and post em ^_^ The flowers are still very pretty
I live in the mountains, but compared to your's mine are just foothills. We live at 4,300 ft altitude, approx. I work at 5,100 altitude. The highest mountain in Arizona is 12,000 up near Flagstaff. We really live in high desert and are more desert than mountain here. I love your mountains. We do have mountains like that but more are in Colorado and in the the west coast between us and California. dooley
I've had many water damaged flowers this year too Droopy. We've only ever had a few days here and there that have been dry this summer. Yesterday I woke up to the garden covered in hail for goodness sake!! I love your Heirloom crocosmia - mine is almost finished now. Your lilies are beautiful, despite the damage, and they smell gorgeous don't they? :-D
Droopy, I always feel really sad when fall comes too. By the time winter hits, I'm down right depressed!
Winter My wife used to hate Winter coming - not because she didn't like it, but because I don't like it. Our Winters are relatively mild. We have a little snow, many freezes, but our days are usually in the 60ºF range, so it's not too bad. We can grow pansies all Winter here and as long as we don't get a really cold & dry spell, they'll do fine. I lose some of them every year to the weather, but in Spring (about mid-February) the pansies start blooming like crazy and really fill the place with color. I start planting pansies in late September to give their roots some time to grow & get established before the freezing weather hits in November. Last year, I had a lot of pansy color at Thanksgiving and was proud to host Thanksgiving at our house. Other than that, I dislike Winter a great deal. I call it, "the season of death" because it's so bleak a lot of the time. I tell friends, God did not intend for people to live in snow and ice (sorry, Scandinavians). I am glad my ancestors left Europe (those ancestors, who were European, that is - got some Cherokee in me too). When my wife & I went on a cruise around Europe in 2002, we landed in England on July 3rd and we were cold. We said - out loud - no wonder our ancestors left - it's cold over here! My father lives in the mountains in Colorado. They are beautiful, but cold. I've seen it snow in July up there! I tell him, to move back to texas to be closer to his grandchildren and to avoid the snow & ice. he says, "But it's so beautiful!" I say, "Take a picture!" I really don't like visiting up there, because it's so darn cold so often. This year, he turns 75 in January & we're all planning to be up there for a big party. I am not looking forward to being in the middle of Colorado in January! (No, I don't ski.) He keeps saying, he's going to sell the house, but he never does. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I like the warm, dry weather we have here in West Texas. In Summer, it can get 100ºF during the day, but it's dry and even on those 100º days, we can sit in the shade during the day and anywhere outside in the evening and be comfortable. And we do! My daughter likes snow, but I do not and I don't recall liking it as a kid, but I must have. What kid doesn't?
Eileen - they do! Netty - we'll be depressed together this winter. WTxDaddy - all children love snow. We give them skis for their 3d Christmas. Before that we sleigh with them. I quite enjoy outdoor life in winter now. The children make all the difference. And the horses of course.
Summer depresses me, winter energizes me. I get my gardening done from October thru May, this year I was able to be out there even thru June. But July, August and a good portion of September, the garden doesn't see me except for a few minutes every other day or so when I turn on and off the sprinklers. When the weather starts cooling off I have windows and doors open, my energy level increases and mentally I feel like I am alive again.
November through March, sometimes including October and April I can't get any gardening done due to frost and/or snow. I'm just outside to play and shovel snow. When I think about it it's actually quite nice to have a period of rest from gardening work. Then I can concentrate on other things, like knitting.
That's what I use July, August and Sept for...knitting, candle and soap making. It's a good time for getting holiday gifts made.
