dog days of summer...

pardon Daphne...

she hadn't washed her face yet...

she stays with me in the gardens...

she loves the heat...

I have another mum blooming...

our heat wave begins today...

and gets worse as the week goes on...

yesterday morning I sat out here weeding and took many photos...

waiting on the mower guy to show up...

dusty miller and spider plants...

and very pink hybrid impatient...

I have several ideas rolling through my head for next year here...

always planning ahead...

it's time to start gathering ideas and making lists for spring bulbs...

I love the striped leaves of the spider plant...

and I had never planted them directly in my beds before...

I am so going to miss playing in the dirt this week...

my gardens and yard tell me that we are month ahead of last year...

with the mums blooming and the morning glories already weaving their blooms through the corn...

leaves coming down off of the trees...

I spent extra time here with the camera...

not sure what will be left by the end of the week...

pink knock out rose is finally coming into  it's own after being transplanted last fall...

I love this color...

and can you see the pray mantis?

had a new hatching of them and they are every where...

but they can and do kill humming birds...

I had to make due with some of the plantings this year...

not able to go shopping early this spring to get what I wanted...

but it seemed to have worked out anyway...

DH moved all the potted plants from the deck over here to weather the heat this week...

they are also in one area and will be easy to water...

this area is always shaded...

the rose of sharon is just full of blooms and starting to open more and more every day...

this is an area that we got weeded this weekend...

we sat and hand pulled it all...

it just looks better than whacking it down...

and we talked about next year and how we are going to  plant all the way to the fence and I have ideas of stepping stones throughout so we can get in to pull weeds and dead head...

the day lilies are still blooming but their days are numbered...

soon their cycle will end and something else will begin...

I would like to surround the yard with these, but haven't seen this particular plant lately...

it's just awesome!

the japanese beetles have come and gone...

there were not very many this year...

the winter must have been too hard on them...

we had semi- cloudy skies this weekend, which helped hold the temps down...

the humidity is so bad now...

it really started creeping in yesterday afternoon and all the windows were frosted last night before we went to bed...

make sure you drink lots of water...

and keep the bird baths full...

plenty of water for all the outside animals and if possible, bring them in at least during the hottest part of the day...

still praying for cloudy skies, lower temps and humidity...

the winds and seas are at His command...

one thought, and the waves obey...

one nod and He can cool the hottest day...

bring the wind, Lord and cool us down...