Miscellaneous garden shots!

High 83 F
Low 57.3 F

This spring I planted several different types of ornamental gourds.  Walking around the garden today I noticed that the 'snake' gourd is filling out quite nicely.  Now not too many of us like snakes and these were pictured on the package painted to look like a snake. They are intriguing.  I will never paint them but find them a curiosity growing here next to the birdhouse gourd in the weedy patch of the vegetable garden.  Does anyone have any idea what else could be done with them?  I've heard that they make great rain sticks.

The morning walk also revealed this Tricyrtis  finally blooming.  It is covered with sooty mold from the oak tree overhead but it is a bright bit of exotic color and orchid like  bloom.  It doesn't seem to be thriving here so I will probably move it once we get a little rain either after its' bloom in the fall or in the spring.

The garlic chives are starting to open. They looked like this in last week's post and now they look this this. Both
Allium tuberosum

the leaves and the stems are used in cooking and the flowers can be used as a spice.

This aster promises to be covered with blooms. One or two are showing now.  If we don't get a bit of rain I'm not sure they will open.  The New England asters are showing serious signs of drought and since we did have a fair amount of rain throughout the summer we are probably in for a dry fall.  I guess we will just have to wait and see.  Too much rain is as bad, or worse, as too little rain.  Is it ever 'just right'?