Tomorrow is the first day of the Earth Monkey 戊申 month which covers the rest of August and a bit of September. When the Monkey comes the change of seasons is accelerated. Summer’s almost gone. Let’s be glad we had it.

Things are looking spent in the garden. Most of the evergreens have just done their annual leaf/needle drop so the ground is crackly and yellow just like the grass that none of us water. We have had no measurable rain here in Seattle for the last 49 days. The ground is very dry. It’s also been unusually hot with runs of days where temperatures are in the 90s. It’s easy to see our air quality is very poor when Bellevue is almost obscured from the west side of Lake Washington. You can smell the smoke in the air from the fires in British Columbia. It’s not what we are used to here in the temperate rain forest. Big changes are happening everywhere.

The part of the change to love is the crazy amount of growth that has happened this summer, the bounty of blooms and reblooms, as well as the extended season for scented bloomers. Here are the perennials and bulbs that are still performing in the garden. Enjoy!

Weigela

Rose of Sharon

Summersweet “Hummingbird”

Scarlet Monkey Flower (Mimulus cardinalis)

Evergreen jasmine

Bee balm “Jacob Cline”

Gladiola