And They Don’t Require Much Care

The heat and humidity are here.  In mid-summer heat I do my garden chores from shade to shade, trying to stay away from the sun.  The lovely times in the garden in mid summer are the morning and early evening.  The cool of the morning makes the mixed flower scents very pronounced, especially the Garden phlox and jasmine.  It’s very soothing.  I water the vegetable garden and the potted tropical plants every morning when it’s still cool.  Water evaporates less and will dry up in the sunlight soon enough as not to encourage any disease.  The sweet scent of Bitter melon fills the vegetable garden air now.  The second flush of roses also adds fragrance to the air though not as strong as in early summer when the majority of bushes were filled with flowers.  Even when I don’t have to water them, I still go out in the garden every morning just to breathe the scent that no perfumery can duplicate.  I do the same in the evening when I get home from work.

I hardly water the flowers in the garden now but they are still doing well in the heat.  Most of them are self-sown and I let them grow freely.  Once in a while I either move or thin some of them to prevent diseases due to over-crowding.  The plants posted below are care free, self-reliant, great for pollinators and dependable in bringing colors to the garden in the heat of summer.

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is actually an herb.  I grow this for the bees but it’s also good for making tea and potpourri as well.  I have a few patches of them, two by the vegetable garden entrance that a send out licorice scent every time I brush against them.

This double Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) is a product of open pollination.  I’ve never bought any double flower version but I let the seedlings grow and this is the result.  Some of them look even more like chrysanthemums with smaller petals.

Many people regard Queen Anne’s lace (Anthriscus sylvestris) as a weed but I love them.  When they grow in a row or large clump, they look so beautiful and delicate.  They are also great for insects and bees.