A Break from the Heat

It's hot as h*** here today. Is is hot where you live? Last weekend, we had a little reprieve from the hot and humid weather. It was so pleasant last Saturday that we worked outside about 5 hours. Leo was cutting the grass, and I worked in our flower bed that is in front of the garden fence.

The roses in this bed had been ignored for about a month because our attention has been on the vegetable garden. So the first thing I did was to fertilize and water the roses. Despite the heat and neglect, the climbing roses that we planted in early spring beside the arbor are doing well.

Look at this gorgeous color! The variety is All Ablaze. They have had blossoms on them since we planted them.

A few of the canes had grown tall enough for me to attach them to the arbor while I was working Saturday. See the weeds in the background? They are gone now. I did a lot of weeding while the weather was so nice. I also pruned a few of the climbing roses and deadheaded the Knockouts.

As I was pruning one of the climbers, I found this.

I thought the mother (a Mockingbird) was going to attack me while I was working, so I kept my eye on her.

One of the prettiest things in this flower bed is this combination of flowers growing on the fence. The red flowers are mandevilla and the yellow ones are black-eyed Susan vines that are volunteers. I didn't plan this combination, but it is just stunning. I had planted two mandevillas in early spring before any of the black-eyed Susans had come up.

Next year I'll plant more of them along the fence, hoping that the same thing will happen again.

We had some pine straw delivered from Jay's Trading Post, and I spread some of it around the trees in front of the flower bed.  I need to get out early tomorrow morning(in order to beat the heat) to spread the rest of it in the flower bed.

Around the corner, the Angel's Trumpets are blooming.

We rooted these last winter and planted them along the fence.

They are loaded with these gorgeous blossoms.

Look at these Wave petunias! I grew them from seed this spring. Look at them now.

While I was out working and watering, I took a few pictures of the vegetable garden. This is okra that is growing in a raised bed. It has such beautiful foliage.

And these marigolds are growing in another raised bed.

The cherry tomatoes are loaded with tomatoes and blossoms. I've used some of the cherry tomatoes in making Comfortable Foods Bruschetta. A really, really good way to use the over-abundance of cherry tomatoes that I know many of you are experiencing, too.

Our other tomatoes are still producing tomatoes, enough for me to put up 14 more quarts of tomatoes yesterday. Y'all do know what it means to  "put up," don't you? It means WORK for Jane!

I'm glad that we had some nice weather last weekend so that I could get some much needed work done. The heat's back. Stay cool.