August

August is usually a hard time in the garden. In mine there's lots of work to do, as both the privet and the eucalyptus shed constantly. So while other gardeners are basking in the late summer sun and watching their summer-bloomers, I'm raking leaves and picking plant debris out of the pots. Some plants--the fuschias and flowering maples, in particular--never stopped blooming, but others--the dianthus and campanula come to mind--have re-started. This is common in the Valley. Plants go dormant in the heat of summer and then we have a "second spring" in the fall. What's unusual this year is that it's come in August instead of September. So we may have an early fall. Yes! Yes!