The Garden in Late Summer

 

It's been a while.

When I started my break in August I thought I would be back in September, but it's well into October now that I finally feel like blogging again. And what better way than re-starting with Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday?

My break was rather uneventful - I didn't go anywhere, but I took more time just to rest, sit in my garden, read or just watch the birds. I loved to hang out under the privet tree and look up - a messy and invasive tree that was already here when we moved in. It is a great shade tree and the birds (and other little creatures) love it. It is teeming with life. 

At the begining of September the new school year at the German School started and I was busy preparing new classes, visiting teacher workshops, going to teacher meetings and attending board meetings. I have a couple new students and the school year has been off to a very good start.

What truly rattled me was the fire on Maui that destroyed Lahaina. I visited Maui back in 2016 and never liked it as much as the wildness of the Big Island, but old Lahaina was my favorite place there. The speed and the surprise effect of that fire reminded me a lot of our wildfire back in October 2017 that burned down entire neighborhoods in our town within just a few hours. It didn't take much imagination to picture what the people on Maui were going through in the aftermath of that horrible day. 

Being in the garden helped a lot - which was soon prevented by wildfire smoke reaching our area (from the fires further up North) - I assume those of you who experienced the smoke from the wildfires in Canada know what I'm talking about.

The view from my porch

This year I was able to observe a lot of insects on the plants in my garden. Of course there were bees, many of them native bees, and Fiery Skippers (Hylephila phyleus) who have found a place in my heart a few years ago and never left. They love to hang around the Vitex and Verbena bonariensis.

There were some kind of blowflies (I can't identify flies), a damselfly and Mediterranean katylid (Phaneroptera nana), the latter being invasive in California. He (or she?) has impressively long antenna.

This summer there were more butterflies in my garden than usual. I was able to capture a few, but many just fluttered by without ever getting their picture taken. The first two pictures are of an Acmon blue (Icaricia acmon) and number 3 and 4 are of a California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica, left) and a California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice) which is the California state insect (which I didn't know before).

The Vitex agnus-castus flowered well into August and still is stunning with its by now spent flowers. Soon I need to cut it back. I loved the waning first supermoon in August above this beautiful small tree.

In my last garden post the grapes of "Roger's Red" (Vitis californica) were still very small, but in August and September they went through their path of exciting change. 

From this...

through this...

to this...

Now I'm waiting for its stunning fall color.

Late summer, of course, is for sunflowers, but I was pleased to see that my wild sweet peas were still blooming. The spent Centaurea that I only planted this spring looks quite beautiful.

The native naked buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) was flowering for the first time and while it looks rather fragile, it is a pretty robust plant.

And who doesn't like Sedum "Autumn Joy"? I like the phase when their flowers start to turn pink.

Thankfully I had more time to watch the birds, but didn't really take a lot of pictures. Mostly, I'm sitting close to the bird feeders, reading a book or knitting, but without my camera. These three pictures of an Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) and a California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) were taken with my phone and therefore not particularly good.

This is the girl who's sitting under the birdfeeders - better her than the real predators.

We had many meals outside, either just the two of us or in the company of friends. A nice refreshing rosé is the perfect summer wine. This is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday, because we can't go without a drink!

A Little Piece of Heaven on Earth

There are many reasons why I love summer, and this is one of them - lavender. I love the way it grows, the beautiful shape, the tiny blossoms, but most of all the heavenly scent. When lavender is flowering the bees are buzzing around it, dizzy with happiness.

We are very lucky to live in a climate where lavender grows easily.

I wrote about this place when I started to take portraits of the high school seniors. It's a winery that not only produces wonderful reds but also has a beautiful lavender garden. It's a heavenly place! When I walk through it I always feel like being in Provence.

The lavender garden is nestled in the vineyards and the rolling hills of Sonoma County. The view from the top of the garden is stunning.

However, there's not only lavender. There are some spots where other flowers grow like sunflowers or gladiolus. If you keep your eyes open you can even see four-legged creatures hopping around.

And of course there are bees.

I even found a little redhead!!

I do like the shapes one can see in lavender fields depending from your view point. I was quite taken with this one:

Or look at it from above!

However you look at it, lavender is just an amazing flowering plant, both useful as an ornamental as well as a culinary herb and also used for extracting essential oils. When it's full grown it makes a statement in any garden.

There's another perk at this place - you can combine all this beauty with a nice glass of wine, lean back and relax.

I'm sharing for the first time with Through My Lens.

Spanish Lavender

Spanish Lavender was new to me when we moved to the States. I was familiar with many of the English and French Lavender, but not this particular kind. At first I wasn't even sure whether I liked it.

At our old home I had planted the "other" lavender - "Provence", "Hidcote" and "Grosso". And while I still have them here - and love them dearly - when we moved to this house and I started transforming our front yard, I decided to give the Spanish Lavender a try.

Am I glad I did! I planted three "Otto Quast" lavenders, and they have taken off! The three plants are quite big now and form one big bush that is loved by the bees and the ladybugs. It smells heavenly. When the sun is behind the plants, the color of the leaves at the top of the flower are almost glowing. It is absolutely beautiful - so beautiful, that recently I bought the pink "Madrid". I hope it will turn out equally beautiful.

Do you have lavender in your garden? If yes, what kind? Do you harvest the flowers? Dry them? Tell us in the comments.

The Bees Were Crazy This Morning

When I went out to my front yard this morning to look at my flowers I saw that the bees went totally crazy about the poppies. At least one bee was sitting in each poppy, but in many there were two or more bees circling around eager to get to the nectar.

There was a steady humming in the air. One thing's for sure - there is no bee crisis in my meadow.

There are still more poppies opening, the beauty is not ending yet.