In Stasis

Spitfire nasturtium, and cousin

In the month of August the weather changed abruptly.  The sky opened up and it poured and poured.  We had several days where the rain gauge said 4 inches in the last storm.  Locally, but thankfully not at our house, there was severe flooding, worse than the flood of 93.  Which you may have heard, is the standard by which we measure flood water.

Then, it stopped.  We didn't have rain to speak of for a few weeks.  All the plants in containers, after getting watered heavily and frequently, almost on a daily basis, panicked at the decrease in water.  Our lawn turned brown.  Squash vines took on a tan cast and looked puckered.  I started watering daily with the hose, but it just wasn't the same. All my container plants look a little 'dry' now.  In the last few days it has finally rained a couple times, so hopefully they will recover. The nasturtiums above used to be at the top of the tippy pot planter.  They are so happy to be down on the ground that they look even better than they did before, in spite of the temporary water shortage.  

Here is a good example of how many of some plants are peeved off.  Even though it just rained, these plants are looking a little wilty. The nasturtiums aren't too terrible, but have several dead leaves and are a little yellow.  The pictures might seem a little blurred because of the extreme wind we had today.

These nasties never stood a chance.  They keep trying to grow and prosper, but since the giant cucumber and kale plants block their light, I will be surprised if they ever bloom.  And of course, they never even attempted to climb up this trellis.

Purple hyacinth bean plant (only 1)

In comparison, the purple hyacinth bean plant is climbing all over the place.  This is only one plant!  I am going to do a ton of these next year.  They are so beautiful.  I am not sure if the beans are edible, but I am going to find out.  While I was looking at the beans, I noticed my clematis.

Stupid clematis, finally blooming

This poor clematis has had a rough go of it.  It has been moved four or more times. It never gets a chance to get established and bloom all over like some people's do.  I actually figured that since I moved it in March this year, I wouldn't get any blooms at all.  Maybe it was feeling peer pressure from the hyacinth bean, or maybe it decided the hyacinth was showing off and decided to show that it wasn't inadequate.  Whatever the reason, I will get a few lovely purple flowers, which coincidentally, compliment the purple hyacinth flowers.

These are my original nasturtiums, and they are looking much better after I gave them a haircut.  They have been looking pretty scraggly for a while, so I just trimmed off the bottom section.  It seems like that helps nasturtiums a lot.  Especially this climbing kind.  If they get too leggy or cruddy looking, you can just cut off sections, and it grows back bushy and green.

DH calls these 'buttonflowers', because of the shape of the leaves.

They really do have stunning color.  The spitfires are so bold and vibrant.

Beebum in the sunflower

So for now,  most of the nasturtiums seem to be in stasis.  They haven't grown much more, but most of them still look really good.  This really is a dependable, long-lasting, long-blooming flower. The whole garden seems to be on 'pause'.  I love this time of year, when everything is at it's biggest, and you kind of fall into a holding pattern, but that's okay, because this is the good time before it starts to get colder.  I'm enjoying looking at everything and taking pictures.  I caught this 'beebum' checking out one of my sunflowers.

After 2 years of blogging, I finally figure out I can add captions.  Was this always there?

The garden is still producing well, but some things are starting to die back and thin out.  Holes are opening up in my garden, and I welcome the space they provide, after the crowding of midsummer.  I'm starting to plan and make lists of things I'll grow again next year, and what new things I want to try.  I know, as always, nasturtium will be on my list for years to come.

I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds.