This summer at Coppertop has been warm and very, very dry, with beauty all around. Before we launch into autumn, it’s important to record some of that beauty, lest I forget it when the winter winds blow.
Some people are surprised to learn that our local Pacific Northwest summers are super dry, similar to Southern California, although not as hot. We haven’t had even an inch of rain all summer. We let the lawns go dormant each summer, and they spring back to green when the early fall rains begin. Our deep well allows us to irrigate the vegetable garden and other areas through drip systems. Due to drought, I have seriously limited other watering this summer. Perhaps there are fewer blooms in the dahlias and some other areas because of it, but there’s still plenty of color. I’ve watered my rose garden only three times — very deeply.
The end of June was filled with roses and peonies. Plenty of veggies were ready for harvesting.
July started with even more roses and ripe vegetables. The first carrots were pulled (with hundreds more to come), the first sweet peas bloomed, and the fava bean harvest was abundant. The perennial garden wine barrels overflowed with nasturtiums.
Mid-July into August brought some warm weeks. Tomato pots in the greenhouse produced plenty for sauce making. The varieties I’m growing this year include Supersweet 100, Amish Paste, Opalka, Oregon Spring, Principe Borghese, and Artisan Bumblebee. This year all the pots on our deck are filled with flowers started from seed by me many moons ago. The Maverick geraniums continue to produce, as do the scabiosas and salvias. Glorious sweet peas reached peak bloom and are now beginning to fade.
Last month I had one of my most productive garlic harvests in a decade of growing garlic. Duganski and Music varieties performed wonderfully, with many garlic heads as big as my palm in a harvest of about 100 heads.
As August closes, the shady wine barrels thrive with their mix of begonias and hakonechloa. Dahlia season has just begun here and will continue until first frost. It’s been a lovely summer!
Gardens at Coppertop 
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