Too Late to Plant?

A couple of weeks ago I saw some of those roll-out flower seed packs on sale for 99 cents at Menards. Who could resist? There is one section of the bed by the shed that  has just two lavender plants in it and has been a constant source of crabgrass all summer. I knew they had to be kept pretty damp to get the seeds to germinate and knew I'd be a way for several days last week, so I waited until today to put them out. Two parts are the Fragrance collection and the rest are English Garden.  Have no idea what's coming, but it has to be better than crabgrass!

The backyard is looking green thanks to a lot of watering.

This new piece of yard art showed up a few days ago, thanks to a good friend. :) Not sure it will stay in this spot, but it adds some welcome sparkle. That little cluster of brown leaves behind it is a lilac that survived weed-whacking and mowing only to succumb to the heat (or maybe overwatering). 

A couple of weeks ago I found some Genista broom moth caterpillars finishing dinner on the baptisia. They had stripped it entirely. I didn't get a picture of the caterpillars but you can see one here. This poor thing had its tap roots cut last year when I moved it and now this. Today I noticed that the bush is coming back. Hardy little soul! (And yes, I see the crabgrass ... *sigh*)

The lantanas are growing well. Some are nearly as bit as the mums now. These mums don't seem to want to flower early, as do the ones in back. The heat is throwing schedules off.

Just beyond the walkway in the photo above is this turtlehead. Despite watering, it gave up. I'm not pulling it yet, as last year it was nearly this dry looking and yet put out a blossom. Call me an optimist! 

The echinachea that loves the heat is getting to the end of its tether. The hollyhocks are a dead loss. This part of the garden needs rethinking next year.

Here's a long look at the front yard. Notice the rough-looking grass near the steps. It's a mix of crabgrass and clover. The restof the yard is Bermuda or wiregrass. It has been slowly taking over. In another year or so, I think the crabgrass/clover mix will be gone.

The south end of the front yard is in much better shape than the north end.

Here you can see the Bermuda/wiregrass creeping into the cosmos. It takes constant pulling to keep in somewhat in check, but it does make a nice carpet of green.

And to finish up on a depressing note, see the crabgrass among the bricks. I managed to pull about half of it out this morning after taking the picture. The temp was rising and so was the humidity, so the rest is left for another day.