Summer reality in the front garden

Those deliciously cool mornings are now a matter of context. Here I sit on my entryway bench, enjoying the nice temperature of the morning and the chatter and buzzy murmur of the birds and insects... but I hustle to get out here between 7:30 and 8 am because by 8:30 it'll be a lot less sumptuously cool. Right now it's 79F, after a morning low (around 7 am) of 75F. It will be 85F pretty soon, and I will find this bench much less attractive as the mercury rises past that point on its way to 100F again.

Yes, the summer reality typical of Oklahoma has at last arrived. That peculiar month of rain in June, and its remnants in July, help me appreciate the sun in August MUCH more than usual.... Also, when I turn my bedroom blinds at night from blocking sunlight to letting in a bit of morning sun, I still drink in the sight of the stars! (No clouds...)

All cloudy, rainy summer long, my perennials bloomed their happy heads off and lifted themselves tall and strong. The tall daylilies bloomed on five foot tall stalks! The Mexican hat and Indian blanket filled out and bloomed all summer long. The little burgundy daylilies were happy as well. This is the front garden that I planned with the intent of watering only very rarely; they're generally on their own to deal with the weather. June and July was an embarrassment of riches in terms of deep watering, and they certainly responded.

Now, under the late-coming summer blast, everything is drying out at last. The daylilies are done and their stalks and leaves are turning brown. Suddenly the Mexican hat and Indian blanket foliage has faded from their former clear green, and a whole lot of their flowers have gone to seed heads; time to deadhead again! On the other hand, the sunny yellow coreopsis may make a late summer reappearance; I just noticed the plants have greened up again. Usually they do bloom again in late summer, a welcome event.