around the yard

August is one of my favorite months.  The angle of the sun changes a little...still warm and bright but not as glaring and merciless as in July.  The nights are a bit cooler.

I realize once again that I will not win the race to get the yard and flower beds all nicely groomed so that I can just sit back and enjoy the season.
But really, doing the outdoor work is how I enjoy summer.

Here's the flower bed just off the back porch.  That purple heart vine is huge this year.  It didn't die back completely in the mild temperatures last winter, so it had a good head start in the spring.

That's Sedum and Portucula near by.

Here's looking the other way.   Zinnias in the foreground.  I really like Zinnias and made a note in my garden journal to plant more next year.

Pink Zinnias and yellow Marigolds.  So gaudy...but appealing to me.

Last summer (or the one before) I noticed some Purple Passion Flowers (Maypop) blooming in the field next to our property.  I tried digging a couple of  the vines and moving them to our yard. They promptly died, but I needn't have bothered...

Like every other weed growing over there they ended up coming up in my flower bed anyway.

I left one to grow and I hope I haven't created a problem for myself. I sort of have a feeling it might try to take over the area now that it has a toehold.

Pretty blooms though and there are a lot of the little passion fruits too.

Black Eyed Susans...so reliable and long blooming.

One lonely Purple Coneflower there on the left. I want to get a fresh start of those next spring too.

I keep plugging away on my 9 Patch quilt.  I'm considering that red fabric at the bottom for the outer border but not sure if is the "right" red.    It has a gold print in it so it coordinates with the gold background, but my mind's eye thinks it should be a darker, truer red.

Oops! One of these things is not like the others!  That's what happens when your mind wanders.

At least I noticed it before I sewed it up into the quilt!