August - how do you make the best use of your garden space?

In ground pools are expensive to maintain.Cleaning twice a year and closing down for the winter plus replacing pumps and chemicals.
My sister had a small one in the house she bought.It would have been $500 per year just for maintenance and chems.She had it torn down.

I've never had a swimming pool, but from knowing people who've had them installed, the novelty of them seems to wear off after a few years.

It always struck me as odd that hotels in Hawaii (among other places ) have swimming pools a hundred yards from the ocean...

This message was edited Aug 11, 2009 8:43 AM

Here's a collage of our neighbor's house, on the water, and behind the fence in the two photos to the right is the pool. How much closer could they get?

looks like fun

just an august collection

the rest of them

So wonderful to view especially when I've been out sweating this morning - moving more chips, lifting heavy pieces of bluestone, laying chips, planting daylilies, tending potted plants, taking more coleus cuttings.

I wondered what you have been up to.
Holicow Pirl thats a lot of heavy stuff for this hot weather, be careful.

Didn't you say you'd come down to help me? LOL

Heading back out now and trying my best to find shady spots to work.

I'll come down only if we go skinny dipping in the ocean, together - - hand in hand - - - into the surf.
No cameras

We'd certainly frighten the summer people away from the shore!

teee hee

I think that sounds like a wonderful 'Garden Forum' roundup idea... skinny dipping in the ocean! Though, JD may have some difficulty swimming while blindfolded. =P

There actually are clothing optional beaches here in Calif....not that I've ever been to one !

ohhhh
surrrre

...but have you peeked?

Yes, eons ago...and it wasn't pretty !

We are fed on too many airbrushed bodies.
It would be refreshing to see a normal person with sags and lumps.

Good Morning all. Pirl told me this was a nice place for garden chat! I've been to her garden and believe you me, it's beautiful! She lives in a lovely area that I had actually considered moving to many years ago.
I wish I could spend more time in my garden. I adore being out there. If I could add more full sun areas I would as I don't have enough to enjoy a big vegetable garden. I currently have a few raised beds only. My town has HUGE oaks everywhere, so most of us have part sun gardens. Here's a good shot of my backyard from last year. I've been bad with taking them this year.

Beautiful

Lovely trumpet vine.

So very nice to see you here, Anita! Your garden is lovely. My dream would be dappled shade all over except for the vegetable garden.

For the last few weeks I've been working in both shady and sunny spots but now I'm down to jobs in full sun. Jack tells me the weight I keep losing is "water". Well, that's 13 pounds of water! My moniker should be Gunga Din.

I had to pitch a couple of plants from my tubs at the front door.
The ornamental pepper was a big disapointment and the nicotenis "citrus" was a real nothing
Fall mums are in now so I planted a pleasent yellow with Dexter coleus and Lemon Sunsation

We should have a thread on the most disappointing plants we had this year and the companies we bought them from as a possible warning to others.

Goody I'll start one

Great! I'll look for it.

Here it is: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1029419/

"Most disappointing plant this year" is the title.

Yep.I looked at it and since I like to paint plants that are fading I might paint that one.
It would look good about 14 inches square

Your cream Echinacea?

Sorry
A Geezer moment

You certainly must have the gift of the artist's eyes.

It starts to crank up about now.
I'll start some new paintings about the end of September when we have the heat on more.
Its hard to paint when the paper is so damp from being in the humid basement.

Wow Jo Ann, I can see that in a watercolor of yours. I love your work!

Y'all may want to make use of your garden space with roses. I just posted this over in the Roses forum... Ashdown is closing operations. All roses are on sale for $5.95 each. Here's a link to the other post:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1030071/

and here's a link to their site:

http://www.ashdownroses.com/

Wow wish we had better luck with them.

Same here. I ordered the 13 cultivars that I had been considering for a while. I always have to pot theirs up and wait a while before putting them in my garden, but they have some Kordes roses that I can't find elsewhere. At $5.95 each, it's somewhat like when we all went nuts for the minis at Nor'East... I still have those in pots as well. They will be ready for the garden in time, and it's certainly easier than trying to find cuttings to root my own!

Speaking of vines (we were, weren't we?), my Podranea's blooming season has begun.

And here's a really cool Dahlia.

Beautiful ZuZu.

just 1 collage today.
individual plants are going out of bloom so here are some longer views
Sorry its soo gloomy here

You have the prettiest Podranea, Zuzu, and the dahlia is lovely. Plants with two colors are my favorites.

What a lovely entrance you have, Jo Ann!