Some things are worth waiting for, and pineapple sage is one of them. You can enjoy the fragrant foliage throughout the summer, but the red flowers don't appear until the end of the season. Mine has been budded up for awhile, and with the return of sunny, warm weather, the flowers have popped.

Although the leaves have a pineapple flavor, the blooms, to me, are reminiscent of honeysuckle - just a sweet taste. I have made pineapple sage jelly by steeping the leaves in pineapple juice, straining out the leaves and combining the liquid with sugar and Certo and following the directions on the Certo box. Very yummy!

Plumbago looks attractive from mid-summer on. It's a low maintenance, easy to grow perennial that spreads without being invasive like mint. The cobalt blue color is spectacular, especially when combined with white flowers. Remember that it's late to emerge in spring, so don't think it has died over the winter.

Had another question about our hours this week. We're still open five days a week, Tuesday-Saturday 9 to 5. Those hours will continue until Christmas.

I came across a well travelled praying mantis. He started out on the long outside wall of the greenhouse.

Several days later, he had made it into one of the meandering gardens behind the greenhouse. That's a long trip on those short legs!

Now that we're into September, I'm looking at changes in the garden. The pineapple sage is big and budded up, but no red flowers yet. Calendula and gem marigolds are going strong. Profusion zinnias are still blooming up a storm, and will continue until frost. Flowering on the hyacinth bean vines outside the shop was delayed by the high temperatures in July, but the shiny, purple beans are starting to appear.

Garlic chives are in full bloom. The blossoms can be broken up into individual florets and sprinkled on salad or in soup. Or just leave them for the pollinators. They attract lots of insects.  But be sure to remove the flower stalks as they turn into seed heads. Garlic chives are a rampant reseeder.