gnatty dread

 It's still August-hot, but I'm seeing more encouraging signs of fall.  Virginia Creeper and some deciduous bushes in our yard are taking on a hint of color.  Relief.  

I'm still loving our late-blooming plants, like the 'Cherry Brandy' Rudbeckia that I don't remember planting, but am glad I did.

Ditto for my swaths of Black-Eyed Susans.  I don't know how they got there, but they're fantastic.  Long-lasting, and they really brighten up a bouquet.

I usually do one big bouquet-picking per week, but as flowers fade, I replace them mid-week as needed.  It doesn't take long and it's a great pleasure.

We're trying to eat more in the dining room - a year and a half of eating in front of the living room T.V. because of various construction issues is a hard habit to break.  I always bring in an extra bouquet and it makes the meal feel really festive!

Picking flowers makes being outside in August a little easier.  There are still sleepy bees...

...here-and-gone visitors...

...and watchful cats.

I love finding a new flower that was planted months ago and finally opened up, like these Batchelor Buttons.

You've got to take the bad with the good, however.  One major irritant right now is fungus gnats.  Their eggs are often in potting soil.  Pot up a plant and bring it inside, and the eggs hatch.  Cue the hordes of tiny terrors, which then lay eggs into damp potting soil.  The larvae eat your plant roots and mature into the flying gnats...and repeat. They're larger and more fly-like than the gnats commonly seen outside...

They don't seem that numerous until you set out fly traps.  Then...

This post could've been titled 'Fungal Bungle," because I didn't take any steps beyond fly paper to eradicate them.  This week, I'll be buying some fine sand that the gnats can't penetrate, for covering the soil.  Hopefully this will knock them out for the year.

I've been shaking my fist at my cleomes, too.  They're so effortless to grow and make such nice accents in the fall garden...

...but those SEED PODS!

I spent an hour clipping them off last week, and was astounded to see that this week, they're all back and all ready to pop - again!  Once more, I picked up my scissors and went to work - but if they continue to put out pods, I'm going to go ahead and cut them all down.  Too much trouble!

Mostly, though, everything is manageable and enjoyable.  Outside...and inside! 

Have a great week!