Hot, dry and wild

We have had several weeks of extremely hot weather, with the last week hovering around 100. Too little rain as well. I've kept most things waters, but the heat is stressing everything too much. I may have nothing pretty left by August.

I have seen hawks in the area, but just this afternoon I saw an amazing sight. A hawk was sitting on a bench in our back yard, next to the pond, having his supper. There was a pile of gray feathers around him. Hawks are very territorial, so I imagine that I will see this bird much more often.

I am gardening

I have been much more active in the garden than I have been with this blog. Although it has been a very hot, dry summer so far. Sometimes it is awfully hard to get out in this heat.
I was given these cleomes this year. They are beautiful, with their purple, pink and white flowers. They are an annual, re-seeder, so I expect to have plenty to share next year. The knifofia or 'red hot pokers' were beautiful in June. They are finished for now, but might bloom later in the year.

Today we pruned our two gardenia bushes way back, and cut back some of the lugustrum bushes, which are huge. We have also added four more rain barrels, these on the south side of the house. That give me a total of 9, or about 450 gallons of rain water. With nearly an inch of rain this weekend, with thunder storms, all the barrels are nearly full!

I am growing basil for the first time this summer. Today I cut a bunch to dry. I've tied the bunch, and hung it upside down in the attic. This is a traditional drying method, so in a few weeks I should have a nice size container of dried basil. I'll report back on that. My cucumbers are nearly spent, but we are still getting squash.