we watched the whole time, got to 93percent. The thermometer showed a 12 - 15 degree drop in temp! Our solar system slowed way down of course, the graphs online showed a huge drop in solar energy available. It was an eerie gray out but very similar to cloud cover. Our birds did not quiet down. Our lab did not bark. Hubby said there's no contrails from the jets. We live along a busy highway and noticed more cars with their headlights on... Enjoyed it!

Yes, I could look at the sun during totality but when the sun barely peeked out of the shadow of the moon, one very quick glance was all I could handle then it was back to the free cardboard eclipse glasses from the library. Lucky I didn't buy any plastic ones from Amazon. Who are these people staring at the sun? A few minutes after that and it was back to playing disc golf in the twilight.

R you misunderstood me. I was trying to say 2:08 looked more like 4:30 or 5.

I can relate, my Raspberry Wine does the same thing, and I think like you're thinking. BUT I don't do anything and they look so purty in August that I forget what I should be doing....

PMusic - Thanks, I think the biggest part of my problem is I have so little area of the garden that is full sun, that I just don't have enough of any of these plants. And I’ve had Monarda for years, but just not a lot of it. I’ve had honeysuckle and Solomon’s Seal for years and they never drew a hummingbird that I know of. But I am still trying to get a couple of different Honeysuckle going.

That’s a pretty combination with the Monardaand lily.

RustyB - Pretty sure I am still a 6b here. I should try to do that. Take cuttings of the salvias and leave some in the ground to see if they will get through the winter. Do you mulch yours?

One thing that helped me as I was learning about monarda is that it is in the mint family. So it’s spread and habit is the same. I heard Margaret Roach say the best maintenance is to actually go in and ‘disturb’ - pull up chunks of those fibrous roots for a good culling. Made good sense to me because I learned to do the same with my mint in pots - remove 75% of it and discard.

Have you tried pineapple sage? A beautiful plant, that will grow from a small seedling to a huge clump at the end of the season. The only problem is that in my zone the flowers are very late forming (usually October). When I first planted them I had no idea they even flowered, and then to top it off got the shock of my morning when this buzzy thing made a nosedive for them on my porch!