Monday, July 14, 2014

Summer is Upon Us

One day I'm complaining about how cool the weather is and the next day it's 30 degrees.  The heat and humidity have set in thick and we have a case of the muggies.

Spring plants wilted in the sudden rush of heat.  Iris and columbine lasted only a short week or so before collapsing.

Columbine were brought as seed from the west coast and
now bloom happily every spring in my garden on the east coast


They were beautiful while they lasted.  For a short period of time the garden seemed to bloom almost exclusively in purple.

Caesar's Brother Siberian Iris
Siberian Iris, Ligularia and Mountain Bluet
Clearly I have a passion for purple when it comes to gardening.  Oddly I haven't got a single piece of purple in my wardrobe.  


Blues have faded and bright yellow is now beginning to dominate as the temperature heats up.  


Isn't it funny how the flower colours seem to mimic the temperature?  Hot days are paralleled by hot colours like orange, red and yellow.  There must be a reason for that but I haven't a clue what it is.

The first dahlia of the season has arrived and it's orange!
As for me, when it gets hot the garden starts to lose it's lure on me.  There's only one place to go when the thermometer goes too high.


If you're lucky enough to live close to the water I highly recommend getting out and making the most of it.


26 comments:

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

Yay! I finally get to see you in a kayak! And you are so right, summer needs to be celebrated on the water, as well as with hit colours in the garden. Love all your purply-blues.

Marguerite said...

LOL, I was thinking of you when I posted this picture Janet :) had a feeling you might be interested. I'm embarrassed to say how little we have used our kayaks since we moved out east. It's about time we really got out on the water and enjoyed ourselves.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Love all of the colors here. We are having some unseasonably cool weather here in KY this week and I am loving it! :)

Carla from The River said...

I love all the color in your garden.
I have several of the same flowers in my garden.
I agree, when it is hot and humid, the best place to be is in the water.
Happy Summer

Janneke said...

Lovely Columbines and other purples, but also the hot coloured flowers are nice, as you say when temperatures get higher, and now I know why your blog is called canoe corner, so nice to be on and in the water on a nice summer day.

Marguerite said...

After the heatwave you had in the spring I'm sure cooler weather must feel amazing. I don't mind hot but humid is another story.

Marguerite said...

Thanks Carla, hope you're having a wonderful summer as well.

Marguerite said...

Thanks Janneke. We are so very fortunate to live close to the water. The beach is just a 10 minute walk away and after a long winter indoors it's the perfect retreat when the heat starts to get to be too much.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Love all your blooms. It has been exceptionally hot here too until the past couple of days. Now it is to be cooler. All that hot air makes you appreciate the cool days of summer. It looks like you have the best way of cooling off tho....have fun.

elaine said...

Purple features a lot in my garden too and magenta - it seems I am drawn to these colours, which makes for a pretty riot of colour. I am not too keen on the garden in July - everything goes over so quickly. We are in the middle of a heatwave at the moment so seeing you keeping cool on the water is making me very envious.

Casa Mariposa said...

That kayak looks like fun! I have a lot of purple, too. I just added some variegated columbine with purple flowers. Your garden really looks so lush and full. It's come such a long way! Just beautiful!!

HELENE said...

Loved the columbines, and I too have colours in my garden that you won’t find in my wardrobe – pink, lots of pink! It hasn’t really been deliberately, it’s more been a choice of the right plant for the right space, and they happened often to be pink :-) We have had hot weather for weeks too, not complaining, I am enjoying it, but watering is becoming a chore. Have a good week!

Jane said...

It's cooled off over here today with a nice strong breeze which helps keep the bugs from landing! Your flowers look magnificent - I love the colour combo of green and purple together. I took my friend Julie, who's visiting for 3 weeks over to Victoria on the Sea yesterday. It was a hot and humid day but still very enjoyable.

Marguerite said...

Hitting the beach really feels like the only way to cool off these days. The air conditioning in our office is on the fritz and we only have fans at our house. We're getting rain tomorrow and I can't wait.

Marguerite said...

so true Elaine. Flowers just don't last very long when the heat gets so high. I miss my spring purples.

Marguerite said...

Thanks Tammy. I feel pretty good when I look at the garden these days. The gaps are fewer and smaller these days.

Marguerite said...

Funny, I rarely wear pink too but I love it in the garden. Seems to go with everything. I'm trying not to complain too much about the heat, especially since our winter was so bad but boy the humidity makes you feel awful tired.

Marguerite said...

LOVE Victoria. We were just there on the weekend for dinner. Glad to hear you both enjoyed it. We should have a visit some time this summer.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Marguerite girl ... you are the one that makes me home sick for the Atlantic coast .. to be near the ocean is such a gift. Enjoy every single moment not only for you but for me too,OK?LOL
Love those columbine .. all of your flowers are filling in so well and yes! how true is that when colours reflect the heat of the weather ? funny eh ? .... time is flying by .. we need to soak in all the good weather possible and store it in our brains for over the cold miserable winter !! LOL .. oops ... did I mention that nasty season ... strike that from this comment !!
Enjoy the weather, the ocean and your garden : )
Joy

RURAL said...

After listlessly melting through the 39+ weather the other week we now have a chilly 19 C....can you believe that?

I seem to have a blue garden in spring, and now it's predominately yellow also...funny isn't it?

I love your columbines, they are so pretty...do you get that nasty leaf miner there?

Jen

Jennifer said...

I laughed when I read your comment about the surprise amount of purple in your garden. I seem to have a lot of purple and cool pink. How did that happen? We have had some hot humid days here as well. It's the humidity that kills my enthusiasm for gardening. I think you have the right approach to "gardening" in the heat. The beach and the kayak looks perfect.

Marguerite said...

Joy, you are absolutely right. We are so very fortunate to visit the beach whenever we like. It really is a gift and with the weather so hot lately I've been thanking my lucky stars we happened to buy a house just minutes from the water. I refuse to even think about the w-word. It's impossible to imagine cold at this time of year.

Marguerite said...

What a drastic change! but hopefully that helps with all the wildfires spreading in your area. I keep hearing about them and hope you're well away and safe out there. So far I've been lucky to miss out on leaf miners but I wouldn't be surprised if they do turn up. They always seem to find those plants sooner or later.

Marguerite said...

The humidity is terrible isn't it? You're sweating before you've even put a hand on your shovel. and this year the humidity seems to be stretching out longer than ever. I appreciate the nice weather but it sucks the energy right out of you.

Anonymous said...

Judy loves kayaking also! Doesn't get to do it nearly as much as she wants. I love all your spring blues and purples. Are those yellow flowers Oenothera?

Marguerite said...

Shoot, not sure how I missed this comment! Sorry. The yellow flowers are Oenothera. I can never decide whether to rip them out and keep them. They spread quickly and the plants are very low to the ground, not terribly interesting. But then they bloom and I love them. They looked particularly good this year next to the red valerian.