August beauty

My gardens are rather drab in August.  The annuals are flagging as they reach the end of their growing cycle, the summer veggies are winding down their production, and the perennials are wilting in the intense heat and humidity that characterizes our August weather.

However, tucked in next to the compost heap, there is one shrub that shines in August, the August Beauty gardenia bush. 

The original plan was that gardenias would function as foundation plants in the partial shade on the west side of my back deck.  This plan was a flaming disaster; the gardenias got sick, infested with bugs and covered in sooty mold.  Of the three shrubs I planted, one died almost immediately and the other two died back to spikey sticks.  I gave one of them to a friend with a fabulous shade garden and I planted the other next to the compost heap and told it to grow or die on its own.

Five years later, my beautiful gardenia shrub is thriving, producing lovely fragrant blooms throughout the month of August.  There is no disease, no bugs and no sooty mold.  Apparently this August beauty just wanted to live by a nutritious compost heap, bringing joy to my backyard.