The Garden of the Seasons: August Lights, from Anemone to Fairy Candles, Plus a Brief Royal Visit

Faulkner titled one of his grim novels "Light in August."
       There is something special about the light in the month of August, the last full month of summer -- and it's not at all grim -- but I have to report not seeing much of it lately. We had a record hot first week this August, accompanied by that special dog-day humidity that made the air-conditioner, so popular in this over-heated decade, work overtime.
      And then we got the current repeating pattern of rainy, sticky, cloud, on-and-off rain, some thunderstorms, followed by beautifully clear spells of brilliant sunshine lasting whole hours or two, then back to the clouds and scattered storm predictions. Does that sound about right? 
         August is late summer. One of the flower garden's annual treats is the arrival of the fall-blooming anemones (top photo). Which, I am informed by the website Gardenia are also known as Japanese anemones and "windflower." Actually I recall the latter name from the garden centers where I purchased a few. These August-flowering plants are native to China, and have been cultivated by the Japanese for centuries. A special benefit is their long blooming season, six to eight weeks. The meter on our first bloomers has been running for about three weeks.  
         We grow three different cultivars. The light pink, dark-centered one, blooming now. An all-white flowering plant. And some plants with a darker pink flower, that generally carry us into October.
           The second photo down shows the Rose of Sharon, which began blooming at the end of July. This tall-growing shrub spends most of its blooms on the higher branches where the light is best. It's also been forced to grow high to escape the clutches of its very close neighbor, a Korean lilac whose steady expansion is leaning into taller plant's personal space. I like watching how the plants adapt to one another.
          The third photo down pictures a low-growing dogwood with two-toned leaves. The bloomers in this photo are the dark pink tall phlox, the Black-Eyed Susan, and the light pink cone flowers. All of these started blooming in July and continue through this month.
      One of this season's most regal visitors is the Monarch butterfly, lord of all he sees, at least in my opinion. We saw him for weeks darting through the neighborhood's backyards. Our neighbor across the street has a row of marvelous butterfly bushes (Buddliea). He also darted, at great speed and in constant motion, through our gardens, front and back of the house, and I lay in wait with the camera, hoping to catch him napping. Basically, as I discovered, butterflies don't nap. I finally caught him catching a breather on the Dogwood.  
          The last photo depicts woodland plant called Fairy Candles. The species name is Actaea racemosa. This is a shade plant whose long white blossoms peak in late July and early August. Like the others shown here, it brings color in a season when most perennials have quieted down.