Flip the calendar to August. Say goodbye to July and to the evening primroses, whose bright yellow made the gardens positively glow. But hello to the black-eyed Susans and daylilies. For the gardens at the little house in the big woods, this will be the last burst before fall. After that, the plants have a tattered, tired look. They have given their all, and by the end of the month they are exhausted, bloomed out and chewed by slugs, snails, and beetles.
But oh, the first of August, when my favorite daylily blooms. Such a red beauty.
However, the other daylilies are lovely, too.
Less showy but much appreciated are the black-eyed Susans, and sometimes I even catch a little inhabitant of the garden.
Another little inhabitant.
The crickets have begun their song of late summer and fall. Such a lovely but sad chorus, a harbinger of dark, cold days when the flowers are gone and there are no more patio days.
But enough of that! We have at least one more month of summer, where we can spend much of the time on the patio. Last weekend, our friends Dawna and Jim cane over. She brought her delectable margaritas, and we raised our glasses high as we said farewell to July and toasted August, one of the most beautiful months in Maine.
Too bad we couldn’t trade the tiresome, irksome month of March for another month of August. How would that work? It wouldn’t, of course.
Only in my dreams.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Your day lilies are so lovely. Mine are mostly in the yellow/orange range and I admire your pinks. 🙂 Per usual, you mirror my thoughts as we edge ever closer to the end of the warm, sweet season of summer. Cheers!
Thanks, Eliza! We are cousins, after all 😉
Yes! 🙂
They are some of my favourites, too. Good cricket capture
Thanks, Derrick!
Vote me in on moving out March and in another August. Great idea. 🙂
Thanks, Judy. March in northern New England is not something to look forward to 😉
Beautiful images, Laurie. I do like e idea of swapping months. I’d get rid of February and have an extra June.
We all have our favorite months, and often it depends on where we live. My blog friend Johanna noted that in Ohio, March is lovely. In Maine, not so much 😉
Put me in the August for March column, too! Lovely flowers, lovely photos.
Thanks, Cheryl.
March in Cincinnati is a lovely spring month…August..ugh, my garden is withering away. So yes, always somebody happy somewhere! Beautiful flowers and that is a serious Margarita !
Johanna, I went to college in Indiana, so I do know that in other parts of the country, March is delightful. In Maine, not so much 😉 A gray, dreary, muddy month that tries the soul. But we do have August, a very beautiful month in northern New England.
Beautiful flowers! Oh summer… Such a glorious season! Yes, let’s try to enjoy each moment. 🌸
Yes, yes!
March is a fairly decent month here in recent years while we’ve been experiencing non summers. Nothing beats Maine in August though. Enjoy your beautiful flowers!
August in Maine, is the best, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why we have March. To keep us humble 😉
It sounds beautiful…here, I wish for 12 Mays. What fun if we could…well, perhaps not.
Your daylilies are beautiful!
Thanks, Melissa.