LATE SUMMER, 2010

March 19, 2011

I don’t know about you, but I love the gifts that the late summer brings.  It’s the time of year where you are just hitting your stride at the slower pace of summer.  By now I have surrendered to the reality that I just can’t move faster than the hammock can swing. And why would I want to anyway?  For me, my mood can be captured by the sweet lullaby,  Summertime, from the American opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin. The song embodies the comforting safety of the late summer warmth mixed with a dash of hopeful promise.

It’s by this point of the summer that we have either accomplished all the plans for travel, projects and books to read, or we are coming to accept that the harvest will be what the harvest will be. We are, at once, grateful for the looming end to listless days and lazy evenings, and nostalgic for this and other summers past.

In our veggie patch we are bringing in the melons planted this spring–savoring their juicy sweetness– and prepping our beds for the first setting out of seedlings for the fall crop.( I have provided you with a few practical suggestions for preparing your Kitchen Garden for a bountiful fall in the article to the right).  We are getting in those last late night fishin’ trips and starting to buy the necessaries for the return to school.  That Sales Tax Holiday is a sure sign that fall is coming.  Read on to see what sort of specials we are offering to you during that “Holiday”–I think you’ll like the savings.

There are some typical late summer things happening around your landscape, too. Plus, due to some unusually dry weather (for our rainy season) there are a few trouble spots to keep an eye out for. I hope the information I share below will give you the details you need to resolve any issues in your own garden.

In this late summer season, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy those public gardens that absolutely shine in the heat of summer. I have shared with you a couple of my own personal favorites around South Florida.

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