Here we are, mid-summer, classic weather and classic sounds! As I write, the breeze is just puffing the lace curtains from the west, and I can hear the cicadas buzzing loudly from the trees outside. Their calls are almost incessant, but they make such summer music! At night, there are now few fireflies where a week or so ago there were millions, and the crickets have taken over as the insect denizens of the night. I sat on the front porch the other evening, and I watched the sun go down. Already, the setting sun is sliding down farther south each twilight, and sunset time tonight is 8:05 compared to about 9:00 a month ago. It is August 1st, and before we know it, the cooler weather will be arriving. Not much more gardening for the season, even with garden companions.

Garden Companions

I am a lucky lady in that two of my grandsons, Christian and Austin, come and stay with me two days a week in the summer. They were my garden companions for the summer! Chris is very proud of the fact that he will be 10 in 27 days! Austin will be seven in October. They follow me around the garden, and Chris has made friends with a lot of the roses and knows their names. Will he be a rosarian some day??? I hope so! Austin is interested, too, but he’s a little younger, and so this morning, he filled the Rose Forest Garden on the hill with minty-scented bubbles. Chris added his berry-scented bubbles to the mix. These were magic bubbles! They had more rainbows in them than I have ever seen before!

Last week, during all our hot weather, Christian helped me water the roses. He did his best to keep the foliage dry (good boy!), and asked me why I showered the leaves while he did his best not to. I explained that I usually do not water the foliage, but in hot weather they enjoy it. The important thing is that the leaves be dry by sundown. He is becoming quite the rose gardener! Next spring, I am going to ask him to come and help me plant.

Summer Garden

This morning, the boys and I walked around with the camera to see who wanted to have their picture taken in the garden. We got quite a few, including ‘April in Paris’ which is on the head of this blog today. She is just a beautiful rose! Her parents are ‘Secret,’ a lovely white rose with a pink picotee edge that has a nice fragrance, and ‘New Zealand,’ a gorgeous coralish rose that is the fragrant parent of most modern scented roses. I love the way ‘April in Paris’ looks as though she is air-brushed, and she smells heavenly! Maybe she should come live in your garden, too!

This weekend was full of watering and deadheading; summer chores that I always look forward to by February and March! Garden companions make it easier. Enjoy your gardens, don’t forget to water…H2O is the most important thing for you and your roses! And, be sure to give yourself some down-time to enjoy summer’s symphonies by day and night!