I have officially thrown in the towel and declared defeat on the Summer 2021 gardening season. After all it is almost August and the marigolds are brown stalks of dried leaves (maybe deadheading would have helped), front garden Lenten Roses have long since given up their old leaves (and new ones too) and everything else is is looking weary in the summer sun. The only plants somewhat happy with the searing heat are a few mounds of brightly colored, somewhat wilted coleus and a couple of handfuls of butterfly weed growing wildly free from previous years of scattered seed.
But with all my threats to forever give up gardening, hope remains in the recesses of my brain. I find my mind drifting to thoughts of bright yellow and white pansies hanging tough during the fall and winter, right there in the same spot the dead marigolds stand and even the pots of yellow pansies merely bowed their heads to the snow. Maybe some soil enhancements, maybe some mulch, maybe a little more attention. Maybe gardening isn’t that bad….
