Sometimes I do lose interest, Pippi21, especially when I see Annuals that are still 'stunted' and not blooming as they should, despite lots of TLC. That's when I sit back and watch the butterflies and hummingbirds flock to my Butterfly Bush---something I've never grown before!

Yesterday a whole bunch of huge black and blue butterflies ( I have no idea what they are called!) were 'shaking' my Phlox, Vinca and BB flowers---I've never seen such vigorous activity by butterflies! So comical! Makes me look forward to the Asters & Mums that are budding up for Fall. I was fortunate that all I planted last August after moving here have survived and thrived. It makes it all worthwhile!

its not that i lose interest.. after all .. i am a gardener ...

its simply that i dont give a flying leap about it ...

i long for the long sleeve and shorts days of sept ....

you are correct.. its the heat ... but its also that all the spring, early summer things have peaked.... and are startling to look, like i feel.. spent ...

for the most part the next wave is early fall .... its just a dead zone of intolerable heat ..

the will to 'care' always comes back.. i just write off august ...

ken

Yes, I do. Mostly because I *hate* watering (just in case you missed the 999 previous times I've posted that...) and if one doesn't keep up with it in the dog days of July into August, stuff toasts. Sigh.

Also, I can tell fall is on the way - days are getting shorter, and I've noticed when I'm out walking in the evenings that the light is slowly becoming more golden. In a few weeks my cool-toned annuals are going to start looking "gaudy" in the warm, golden days of autumn, and I'll start pulling them out and putting in some mums and asters, which just look "right" in the fall.

Well, yes and no. The worst of this time of year is that there's no enjoyment in just walking around the garden thoughtfully and enjoying it at odd moments throughout the day. Too hot.

On the other hand, I think I almost enjoy the early morning twice as much because I know I can't be outside the rest of the day. The early summer 3 hours daily is down to two this time of year (sun's coming up later), but I am sowing seeds for fall vegetables so I have something new to think about. And it won't be long before I start pansies. There are seasons to the process of gardening too.

Granted, the heat and humidity have been seriously bad, and they have slowed my outdoor activities to a crawl.

But my hobby is zinnias, and I have made successive plantings of them so that some new ones are blooming out pretty much every day. I even have a few seedlings coming on that probably won't bloom until September.

I have had some unique new zinnia specimens appear this year, and I am enthusiastically pollinating and cross-pollinating them. I can't wait to see the results of that, but I guess I kind of have to wait some. But I'll "jump the gun" and grow a few zinnias indoors this Winter.

ZM

I hate heat and humidity too, and August is when we usually go on vacation so things are not as well-tended. Plus the perennials are mostly over in my garden and there is a lot of deadheading to do.

These are the annuals' glory days tho. They are huge and full of flowers. I should move some containers to bigger sizes but am not interested in that project with Labor Day looming. But at least we are finally getting some rain here--free water.

I just planted some ornamental kale seed to fight the boredom.

Not at all. Just put some more lettuce seed out last week and wondering if the datura plants I bought will ever make flowers, and why did I put some of the plants "so close together?" LOL! That happens every year. So I keep busy taking cuttings and sticking them anywhere there's still some bare spots. Anxious for some of the tiny watermelons to ripen. I'm just psyched that it will finally cool off enough to go outside without brain boil in a couple months. I'll get back to digging up grass to finally finish a couple new beds then.

Hi, I look forward to August because I plant a lot of Dahlias, cannas and elephant ears and they don't really get going until August. My Zinnias are big and bushy I also planted some really cute asters that are finally blooming. I hope we have a nice long warm fall and no frost until November because the dahlias will just keep blooming and blooming and look so pretty in the fall.

Linda

Heat has taken its toll this year, but I too enjoy the dahlias and cannas in August. There are lots of negatives about August--many containers are getting seedy and leggy; weeding is a drag between spent stalks; mosquitoes are bad. There's a lot of drudgery without immediate gratification in sight the way it is in the spring.

I do not lose interest because I have a lot of tropical plants so they are always interesting all Summer until Fall. I hate winter because of all the snow so I enjoy every drip drop of good weather I can get.

I tend to just get exhausted by this time of year! Here in NY things seem to be slowing down in the garden, starting to get straggly (not doubt from make lack of fertilizing lately and the heat). The mornings are chilly and its starting to feel like fall already, and I love the fall...but lately it never seems to stick around for long here before winter rears its ugly head! Now is always the time i start thinking about next spring and already can't wait for winter to get over with, before it even begins.

I don't lose interest, but I shift interest...now it's time to start harvesting seeds, cleaning up the garden, and getting stuff done that's more for next year than this year.

It was interesting to read all of your comments because the general consensus seems that most of us "have had it" for this time of year. My energy is spent for this year mostly because of my surgery. Because my kids made available all of my containers, I was able to play in the dirt and make the summer more enjoyable--even though I am not supposed to be out in the sun during the hottest parts of the day. It is discouraging to see most of my container annuals pooping out and having to be replaced. I have tomatoes ready to go in containers that I can maybe bring in under the lights and have an extended season, and I am just ready to plant some zucchini, although I don't have much hopes for that, but it is fun to try. I too don't like winter but have to admit that I do feel better--could be the age thing. Anyway, thanks for all the comments. I enjoy reading them. Barb

I think I've finally come to that stage of losing interest for the year. I got the major things all done, now it's just some little bits of things to do here and there in the gardens and I've lost my momentum. Or it could just be today. Usually around this time of year I begin to lose interest in gardening and my interests shift to my indoor hobbies, such as writing. Maybe because most of the plants look scruffy and tired and have lost their spring newness that I lose interest, although I do look forward to my few fall bloomers that are forming flower buds right now. They'll keep my interest going a little longer, but for the most part, I'm pretty much done for this year. Looking forward to next year, though!

Karen

Pippi, I'm bored because I can't wait to rearrange thing for next year. Moonvines are not blooming.

I guess I should better appreciate the wonderful gardening climate we have here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Never too hot to garden even in August and there are plenty of annuals still at peak bloom or just getting going. To give an idea, dahlias, cannas, Impatiens, begonias,cosmos, verbenas all look incredibly lush here, although some of the above do benefit from dead heading to look their best.Callibrochoa. and even pansies and violas are still in full bloom, as are some florist Cineraria are also at peak bloom, as Nicotiana thyrsiflora, Calandrinia grandiflora, Limonium perezii and Thunbergera alata. So I guess with how easy it is to keep the show going as long as one irrigated, it would be bad form to complaining about how we might have liked a bit more summer warmth and less daily coastal fog...