August is time to divide and plant perennials

Butterfly within the Lilac Branches

Every year, August feels too hot and dry to be digging and planting, but late August is an especially good time to give new perennials a start in the garden. The trouble with this time of year is mainly the hot sticky weather for the gardener, and it is often too dry for the plants. That means attention to watering is usually necessary. Yes, you can wait until September in Ohio, but it is often as dry and full of sunshine as August, and you have less time before winter conditions for those plants to get rooted into place. So, August it is. This year August is proving good for plants that need to be transplanted. We are having regular rainfall here – and moderate temperatures (relatively speaking). I have dug up an Echinacea I wanted to move, sliced it in half, and planted it in the prairie bed. To tell you what else I’ve been doing would infer it is the best time for it, it isn’t; but like all things in life and in the garden sometimes the job must be done, even though the time is not ideal. So, all the pruning and trimming I’ve done is mainly for the sake of a “garden gone wild” which sorely needs to be taken in hand. This year I planted precious little due to my out of town schedule, but I am getting the yard to look more like a gardener actually lives here. Restoring the little pond is on the agenda, and I will soon dig out the overgrown iris and waterlilies. Some of the surrounding rocks need to be reset, which takes me longer now than in my youth. All in all, I am happy to be working in the garden, although there were a few days when I was literally dripping with the effort.

I have had the pleasure of observing hummingbirds and butterflies, who for some reason simply love the shelter of the old lilac (one of the bushes I have been pruning and reshaping).Hummingbirds are very curious and they whiz about my head, which is how I come to be aware of them when bending over my work. Cardinals and goldfinches have also been sighted this month. The children also obtained a new kitten. Tortoiseshell in looks mewing pitiously for its old home and companions, my old cat has not taken to it. He does not suffer fools gladly.Maybe that is why I like him so well. Enough conversation, it is a fine day for gardening and I must go back to my efforts within the garden. Til later, friends- Ilona

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© 2011 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal. An excellent blog.