Hi mWoods, my old friend!
I, too, love fall but hate to see summer end. (I am so glad to live in a place that truly has all 4 seasons though.) I spent much of the weekend moving around plants from one garden to another, plus putting in stuff that I bought on sale mid-summer. It felt good to be out working in the yard without roasting. This morning when I stepped outside to let Ilsa (the dog) out, I could smell fall in the air. Yep, September is a great month...the perfect blend of summer and fall. Thanks for helping me to think happy thoughts!

~Gillian

Happy thoughts abound here also. September is always so much appreciated for its less 'extremeness'. Got all the plants in waiting into the ground last Friday. Now the driveway looks a little light on one side, so will need to take a trip to the box stores to pick up some of their orphans to hold it down again. The garage at the end of the driveway is being held down by DH's brand new tractor complete with back hoe, bucket and tiller. He is chompin' at the bit to get out there to play in the dirt. (Boys and their toys. On just 3/4 acre there is not much room to play unless he just digs holes and burries them) I smell new flower beds in my future!

I love September, too. And it's my birthday month! However, here in Lancaster County we have not had rain for a couple of weeks and the garden looks terrible. I'm tired of watering and pulled some containers already. They looked so sad.

I keep checking the weather channel for rain, but the only chance we have would be the rain from the tail end of a tropical storm brewing in the ocean. I wonder how many perennials won't come back in the spring because of the drought. I water, but it's overwhelming.

Sorry to hear things are so dry Blueheron. No amount of watering ever really compensates for a lack of rain fall. We've been try too, and as much as I appreciated the drop dead gorgeous weekend... too much of my garden is dropping dead.

It's been a BRUTAL August, to say the least. It's been hard to really appreciate the fantastic weather lately when there is absolutely no rain in the forecast for yet another week. And where I live (in Chester County) it seems the rain has always skirted to the north of us, or cells of rain just broke apart without giving any significant precipitation. For as excited as I am about completing a very large landscaping project involving a dozen or so shrubs, it has turned out to be a bad year to have done it.
I'm off to move my noodle-head sprinkler to the next shrub.....

AH September, my favorite month. Tons of hummingbirds and butterflies, annuals recovering and re blooming after the heat, time to put in new perennials and trees, and just enjoying what I did all summer. I wish it could be September forever!

I'm glad to have some cooler weather at last, and enjoy my birthday month as well. I hear ya Lisa Michelle, we haven't had a significant rainfall since the 4th of July week. I just put in 2 Fothergilla gardenii's and the ground is bone dry. I'm tired of dragging the hose around the perimeter every day watering this past spring's shrub plantings. I probably lost my beloved 3 year planted Aesculus parviflora to heat scorch. I'm hoping Ophelia will come up the coast with a nice soaking for us. :-/

So sorry to hear that you gardners in the eastern part of PA are so dry. Here in the middle western part we suffered drought also. The rain/storms were so close at times that we could smell them. But all either broke up or went north or south of Butler county. Katrina who brought so much misery to the Gulf States gave this area a good full 24+ hours of much needed soaking rains. Still yesterday when DH dug down about a foot (with that shiny new tractor/back hoe) in the process of transplanting 2 mature shrubs it was bone dry. Sure hope you get rain soon, but it doesn't look good. I think we will be back to watering the 'this year' trees and shrubs by the end of the week.

September marks the end of my shrub planting. If you look at my page, you will understand my relief. It is still dry here too but the sunshine is less intense. This month is for grass growing--and I have plenty of work.

I have some seeding projects as well but was wondering if we don't get adequate rainfall soon, I may miss my window and have to wait until the Spring (which I'd rather not do). I'm already feeling frustrated by having to water almost every day. At least the cool evenings and mornings have decreased some of the stress on my garden.