This time of year is pretty rough on the gardens and us gardeners. While we dream about digging into the soil and planting, at this time of year that's pretty much all it is. My mother was lamenting the fact that many of the home stores around here lately are not advertising many plant sales. I had to remind her that we are now into August, which is not the best month to begin any new plantings outside.

As much as I love working in the gardens, my time has been restricted not only by the day job I mentioned before but also because of the constant rains and high humidity we've been experiencing. Of course, that's pretty widespread and not only owned by me. The weather patterns are so unreliable. Just as I begin to think I can plan a few early morning minutes in the garden (remember I'm shooting for 15), the clouds open up and pour. In the afternoon as I think about walking out to pull a few stray weeds and see how the flowers are coping, it starts again. The worst part is that if the rain isn't coming down in buckets, the bugs are attacking every inch of living skin they can as soon as the door is open. Talk about the dog days of summer. Even the boys won't stay out any longer than it takes to make a sprinkle and sniff one blade of grass. It's air conditioning for them and they're not ashamed to admit it.

So, as I sit here and dream about planting I should be reflecting more on what is still growing. The coreopsis is going strong as are the coleus. My miniature roses are lovin' life and putting out their little buds as fast as they can. Of course the grass is growing about a foot a day, so it seems, but we'll get that under control pretty soon. They say there's a cold front coming through. Maybe it will get to 90 degrees this weekend instead of 95 (with a feels like temp of 100). Wow. I feel a chill coming on - where's my sweater. Happy Gardening