An ode to summer

Summer is beginning its graceful exit.
How do I know that fall is slowly returning?

The acorns have been falling for a week. Leaves are beginning to slowly turn a color other than green and a few have even dropped. The figs are ready and the tomatoes are filling up my neighborhood's kitchens. The spiders are out in full force in my garden, the critters are going after the grubs under my "grass" and many of the hydrangeas are leathery.

Here's what I'll miss about summer. The taste and color of figs.

  New French Country by Linda Dannenberg

 All that potential with the luscious, ripe grapes.

New French Country by Linda Dannenberg

A late afternoon snack on a lazy day. The screened porch is a god-send during mosquito season~ now.

 

Cultivated Pleasures by Elizabeth Saft

On a vacation with a view, fresh fruit, comfy chairs and guests due any moment. 

Italian Style by Jane Gordon-Clark

A spur of the moment dinner outside.

Set With Style by Caroline Clifton-Mogg

Parking in the loggia with friends and family for the entire evening.

Set With Style by Caroline Clifton-Mogg

Picking the ripe peaches, then biting into your peach with the juice dribbling down your chin...and everyone else's also! No shame here. (Anyone have a napkin?)

 

New French Country by Linda Dannenberg

Strolling through the garden and eating tomatoes just like a peach!

Essentially French by Josephine Ryan

I found this wonderful recipe and plan on making a few tomato pies this weekend to share. Would you like to join me? Here is the recipe.

 

French Chic by Florence de Dampierre

I have plenty of basil to spare. We experimented and planted the "regular" basil and Italian basil seeds from Franchi Sementi. The leaves are large and puckered and very sweet. Right now, we have fresh pesto several times a week. Soon, we'll freeze ice cube-size batches for the winter.

French Chic by Florence de Dampierre

This is my 100th post and I am celebrating by offering a wreath giveaway.

Be sure to check HERE to learn how to win a hydrangea wreath for your fall decor! The deadline to enter is this Sunday, August 22nd.  

Comment often!

Thank you, Cindy, at My Romantic Home, for Show & Tell Friday.

 

Nature's Ways

You can say one thing about a heat wave followed by rain. The flowers love it! Most of our flowers and bushes are bursting open.

We grow many hydrangeas for cutting and seem to have them everywhere. Most were started using the hydrangea plants purchased around Mother's Day that were cut to the bone (using the blooming stems for floral arrangements); literally, we planted little stubs. With generous watering the first couple of years (hydrangea.... from the word for water in Latin... they love all the water you can give them), they grew just fine. The hydrangeas are now about six years old.

The hydrangea lane in the front of the house:

and along the side of the back:

And even some at the back of the house!

Hyrangea closeups:

This is such a soft lavender:

Enough about the hydrangeas! Here are other flower closeups.

Joe Pye Weed

Oriental lily

 

Honey rose

 Just Easy rose

These are European ginger babies. If you need a ground cover that is a rich shade of green and will go in both sun and shade, try this! Once you purchase (or, even better, share with a fellow gardener) a few plants, the following year you'll be able to split each plant into several. Soon, you'll be sharing with the neighbors, but the plant is not invasive at all. 

This is a baby lime. Really. Wait 'till you see the next photo.

So, that's what pops off the end of the lime (and lemon and orange, etc.)!

Last, but not least, our back yard is watched over by the robin as his babies are still in their nest high in the trees.

Thank you, Cindy, at My Romantic Home

and

Jessica, for Favorite Things Friday.