July was a very productive month for the flowers. I must admit as the month comes to a close, the sense of exhaustion is ever present- in both the flowers and myself. I find myself looking forward to the indoor chore of seeding for Fall in the coming weeks as an escape from the heat. It’s hard to believe that some of next Spring’s blooms will be seeded just next month!
While some of the flowers seem to be thriving in the constant heat and humidity, disease and pest pressure continues to grow. Cool season flowers, like snapdragons and strawflower are long gone, but zinnias, gomphrena, marigolds and sunflowers continue to trudge along. As less things are naturally blooming this time of year, it has been so lovely to see the increase in pollinators visiting my flowers. Wasps, native bees, honey bees and a great variety of butterflies can be seen among the flowers regularly.