Slowly Prepping for Winter

 We are continuing to enjoy perfect summer weather....  If you don't mind dry.  The daytime temperatures are warm with a lot of sunshine and no humidity and the nights are cool.  I only recorded 1.25" of rain in August, and in September we have had one rain totaling just over .25"  I am starting to carry water to some of my favorite shrubs just to keep them alive.  The perennial and annual flowers don't seem to mind the drought.  

A few days ago we fenced the front shrubs off to keep the deer away from them this winter.  The deer have never tried too hard to get to these, but tracks in the snow indicate that they stop by to check them out just about every night.  We usually put woven wire tubes around them, but the shrubs have finally outgrown everything we have made up.  The safety fence was the easiest solution.  You can hardly see it from the road.

I am still getting a few things out of the vegetable garden.  The fact that I almost never watered this Belstar Broccoli all summer did not deter it from trying for a second crop.

This Little Lime Punch Hydrangea bush put out some really nice blooms this year.  I planted it in May 2024 and last year I got a few blooms.  This year it really cranked them out.  The deer ate two blooms under the netting.  These loaded stems will not hold up to snow or wind, so I need to deadhead this before winter.

I decided I may as well enjoy the nicest blooms.  Hydrangea flowers dry very well and hold their color.  These blooms will last for months in the house. I used the opportunity to shape the shrub a little.  I will remove the rest of them later and do a final shaping prune in the spring..

When you cut Hydrangea blooms to dry, you should put them in a little water so the petals do not wilt before they start to dry.  In a few days I will poor the water out of the vase and let them dry slowly.

For now, since the weather is so fine, the bouquet can stay out on the deck.