A Beautiful Sloven

on

 

'Silas Marner'

After nearly a week of hot August days (low 90'sF), temperatures dropped a bit.  I was able to garden again..  Aided by morning marine layer, off-and-on afternoon cloud cover, and a cool(ish) breeze coming off the Pacific,  Leucadendron 'Pom Pom' came out, rather easily:

The area now looks like this:

Lagerstroemia 'Ebony Embers' lives behind the pillar:

Alyogyne 'Ruth Bancroft' needs a place, and she'll go where 'Pom Pom' grew.  I have another Silene 'Druett's Variegated' and a Teucrium aroanium to add as edging, some Aloes to move, details yet to be decided.  If the Alyogyne fails (fingers crossed it succeeds!) I will try a 'Safari Sunset' Leucadendron.  

The garden in August is ragged, overgrown, in need of grooming neglected thanks to the hot week--its usual August slovenly state--but its a beautiful sloven.  The Lagerstroemias are flowering...


 ...here and there amid scorched foliage and brown dry clots of former glory, perfect roses arrest the eye...

...foliage glows....

 ...tomatoes and grapes to pick and relish... 

 It never occurred to me that grapes are beautiful, not just food:

...Dahlias to plonk into a vase...

(because the plant stems collapsed)
Some bits here and there look good, despite all:

Not so bad, this August.  Cosmos planted too late are starting to flower anyway...


With a wire basket to help keep them vertical:

There might even be a Zinnia flower that doesn't get eaten:
Whatever the gardener thinks is sloven, it's irrelevant to the critters who call the garden home:

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