End of Month View - July 2015

It has been several months since I last had an End of the Month View of my garden.  I haven't had much time for gardening in general recently, and even less time to do any type of blogging.  Besides not having time, I haven't been inclined to spend much time in the garden with our 100+ degree Fahrenheit days in Central Texas right now, where I only get a little time very early in the morning when the sun is rising, or a little time before the sun sets each night to enjoy the garden.

Needless to say, all the gardens are in desperate need of some TLC.  I'm hoping we get some rains soon and that the temperatures cool off so I can get back out there and beautify things.

VEGGIE BEDS

I might as well start with the worst of the gardens - the veggie beds.  The heat has really killed off most everything in the veggie beds.  It also hasn't helped that I've only been watering by hand once a week.  Last year I had a soaker hose going, which extended my summer season.  I also had a hose set up this year, but I never quite got it functioning right and didn't want to waste water by having it going and soaking one or two beds and doing nothing to the others.  Next summer I'll definitely have to make sure the hose is working, and may want to look into drip irrigation instead.  For now, I might as well clean out the beds and get them ready for fall planting.

SHADE TREE GARDEN

The shade tree garden is doing alright, mainly because the big shade trees are preventing the intense sun from burning up the plants.  This garden could still use a bit of clean up, and the trees definitely need some pruning.  There isn't anything blooming other than a stray Turk's cap bloom here and there.

HERB GARDEN

Another unsightly garden is the herb garden.  The lack of rainfall/watering and high heat has killed off most of my springtime herbs.  The only things still going strong are the lemon balm, garlic chives, and artichokes (but just barely).  I do have a trellis of morning glories that help redeem the pathetic look of the rest of the beds, thankfully.

CENTER BEDS and NEIGHBOR FENCELINE

There is not too much of interest going on in the center beds at this time of year.  Not really any blooms and the foliage is looking a bit worse for wear.  Everything is longing for the cooler autumn temperatures.

The fenceline has alternating rose bushes and lavender.  The roses aren't blooming much at the moment, but the lavender looks like it is getting ready to put on a show in the next month or so.  The only splash of color in the center gardens are my orange cosmos, which the bees are thankful for.

POMEGRANATE BED

The canna lilies and black-eyed susans have ended their showy displays, so their isn't much to look at in this bed other than the excessive amounts of weeds that I'll need to pull up in the next few weeks.  Sigh.

BULB BED

As this month's theme goes, so goes the bulb bed.  No blooms to brighten up the bed, wilting and burn leaves from the hot TX sun, and a surplus of weeds calling my name.

FRONT FENCELINE

Not much to see here.

FRONT OF HOUSE

Or here.

FRONT BORDER

At least the front of the house looks pretty green despite the hot weather and lack of rain.  Still, no blooms right now.  That will definitely change, come September.  Until then, I just need to try to keep everything alive.

Thanks to Helen over at The Patient Gardener for hosting the End of Month View every month, where gardeners all over the world post pictures of how their gardens are progressing.