For the Love of Rain

Will the tropical storm headed for Pensacola come this way? We all wait to find out. I hope so. My rain barrels need water. I am down to the last two inches. This morning I used what I could to water the tomato plants. I also restrung them so that the new branches could be elevated and get the sun better. I have many wonderful green full tomatoes and one is beginning to ripen.

The August weather has been hot so far, but also there's been an occasional muggy and hot day. What's the difference? Well, on muggy days, the air is so close you can hardly breathe and it is usually cloudy. It is on these days that I have to watch all the plants because they need water desperately.

We went to the High Museum today and viewed the Monet Water Lillies. What an honor! So many museums to choose from.

I have the crepe myrtles to enjoy still and I must say they have not yet waned. In fact, unlike azaleas, they are more beautiful than ever. One thing that amazes me each day is the variety in color and shape. I will try to get more pictures on this blog. You must share my joy with me.

Myrtle Crepe

A little overcast today but so pleasant around seventy nine degrees and it is 11:04 am. We have not yet turned on the air conditioner. The doors have been open all morning.

All around town the crepe myrtles are blooming. Even though gardening experts say not to prune the crepe myrtle bushes, most people in Douglasville chop off the tops in the early spring (or is it fall?). It doesn't seem to make any difference. The pruned and the unpruned ones bloom profusely in July. The predominant colors are the rose and white ones.

Almost every month in Douglasville sees at least one major bloom. Maybe January and February are truly bare of flowers, but even so the dark greens of the cedars and the red and green of the nandinas are colorful. And there's always the pansies, right? In March, flowers start the show with the gorgeous, outrageous Bradford pear trees. They are huge tree balls of white blooms that make you weep they are so beautiful. I've tried to capture their beauty in pictures, but so far I haven't made it. And you might think it is too cold, but the daffodils pop up around the late part of March. The yellow daffodils kind of compete with the yellow of the forsythia at the same time. In April, the dogwoods show their stuff, and if you can find a pink dogwood, you just find a way to drive by often to look at its brilliance. Toward the end of April and on into May the azaleas glorify the area. It is not uncommon to find yards with huge blooming azaleas draped like antebellum dresses across the landscape. Also in April and May, cherry trees briefly but poignantly burst into bloom. In May the dominant flower is, of course, the magnolia. I love to look at the creaminess of the magnolia bloom, and if I have to, I sneak a bloom from someone's tree to place on my dining room table in a brandy snifter filled with water. It lasts for a few days. In June the daylillies dance around the town. There used to be a time when everyone had daylillies in their yard, but now I notice those yards are fewer and farther between. And now this month, the crepe myrtles take center stage. What comes next month? I don't remember, but I will report the event on this blog.