Happy September, friends! Just today we had a slightly cooler day of just over 90 degrees fahrenheit… Could fall finally be on the way? While we wait for real fall weather, which should be starting in just a few weeks, let’s take a tour of the backyard garden…
Since the last time I wrote about the shed, Mr. Ethereal and I wrapped the bottom of the shed with grey plastic lattice backed with hardware cloth (welded wire with 1/2″ squares). This was applied over two weekends. Hubby also pulled boards off two of the panels to see if we could reuse them.
He’s thinking no… Luckily, the price of lumber is coming down so that’s good news! While we wait for another paycheck to be able to go pick out boards and have several pallets delivered, I’ve been cleaning things and putting them inside the shed.
The shed is fitting into the yard now and as I put some plants around its exterior, I’m liking it better in its spot.
The sideways board in the background of this photograph above is our way of keeping Yoda in the yard. He sees that open back fence as an opportunity to go on some “unauthorized walkabouts.” ;)’
Yoda is extra happy as we move more things into the shed and off the back porch and out of the yard. At 16 1/2 years old, his cataracts are making it hard for him to see. Our vet says that Yoda is near-sighted now. He runs into everything so it is becoming more important to keep the yard clean.
I know he sees really well towards late afternoon, when the sun is heading down. He sees light and shadow is my guess so he judges where he is at accordingly.
He is happy to still run a bit as he comes back in from doing his business! He is happy to find his way without zillions of things to avoid. 🙂
The nicest time in the back garden
Early evening light in the back garden is lovely… Even if it is hot outside, with the change to the whiter light of early fall, it just seems cooler!
The hydrangeas have been loving the heat whether we humans (and dogs) think the past month since August 1st have been the “dog days of summer.” As long as they get water everyday, they are happy.
How to dry your hydrangea heads
This is the first year since moving here to Texas that I have actually dried my own home-grown hydrangeas!!! I waited until the hydrangea heads felt “papery” (good advice from another blogger!) and then cut them stripping the leaves, split the ends up an inch or so vertically along the stem, then set them in just an inch or so of water…
The key is having papery blooms and just a small amount of water in the vase so that dries up quickly (before mold sets in on the stems). 😀
Here is how this hydrangea looked as it just leafed out in the spring.
A messy part of the garden, still in need of a brick edging to define this backside of the south garden bed (seen in the middle photograph above). The bougainvillea will go indoors once we get down to 32 degrees.
From Heritage Roses, I ordered a couple of new roses: a climbing rose, Eden, which is a lovely deep pink rose, and Mary Rose. Mary Rose is an English rose which I had at our last home in California.
Not all of the garden faired well, which is why I’m not sharing everywhere (like under the master bedroom window), but these areas should bounce back with cooler temps. This is how our back garden is doing. Hope you enjoyed this little tour!
Lovely evening light!
Barb
