Can It Be August Already?

During our last visit to K & W Greenery, I couldn't resist buying this dragonfly.  It's exactly what I needed for this area in our backyard.

I also just HAD to purchase a few torches to lighten up several places in the backyard in the evening.

You've seen my petite birdbath before but I couldn't resist showing it off again.  Notice another larger birdbath in the background.

This is what a thirsty bird sees when he dips his beak into the large birdbath.

My impatiens petals glisten after I give them their daily shower with my garden hose.

My pink hydrangea has changed color.  Since I'm not a fan of pink, I prefer this altered shade. 

Numerous bees hover over, buzz around and drink from the blossoms on my St. John's Wort shrubs. 

 

Mother Nature is wonderful, but messy.  Everyday I fill this basket several times with her droppings.  Below are a few of the things I'm picking up off the ground after her presently.

Exhausted and ultimately deceased Cicadas fall from tree branches into the grass after noisily disturbing otherwise peaceful summer evenings.   

I find these the tiny acorns nestled in the grass beneath our pin oak tree. 



I've picked up hundreds, maybe thousands, of these birch leaves ravaged by Japanese beetles.  Occasionally I've used a rake but normally I pick them up individually.  Bending down again and again, day after day, is great for the abs. 



To my dismay, mites caused these galls on my pin oak leaves early in their development.  I've been assured that although they look nasty, they cause no damage to the tree.  Fortunately, they're only noticeable when the leaves drop.

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These banana shaped seed carriers with their offspring are dropping from my Lyndon Basswood tree.  I estimate that I've picked up about a hundred of these a day for a couple of weeks now.  There's never a dull moment at our place on Iris Drive. 

The Crimson King Maple in the front yard can't stand to see me sitting in my chair on the front porch.  When I'm not looking, she scatters these little buggers as far as she can throw them.  She knows that as soon as I spot them, I'll be up and at 'em.

I like a nice, neat bed of impatiens flowers which means everyday at least once, I pick up petals that have dropped in the grass or are hanging out where I don't approve.  I'm picky, picky, picky.  Think twice before you get too close.  I may brush you off with my tiny hand broom!!! 

I had a perfect lawn in my opinion for about a week until patches of dead grass began appearing in my otherwise beautiful, lush green grass.  All of the lawn experts I talked to informed me that grubs were attacking the grass roots.  How dare they!!!!!! 

Needless to say, I was bummed out.  I stomped my feet but the damage had been done.

I pouted and fumed until Lon put this grub killer on the lawn. The dead grass patches probably won't recover this year even when the grubs are destroyed.   

To end on a positive note, here's a closeup of our one and only hydrangea flower.  The fullness, abundance and endless intricacies of nature can astonish us into a state of peacefulness. 


I've learned a lot this summer and will continue to do so as I observe the great outdoors in my tiny place in this world.