August has been delightful so far. The pace is different… lingering now is a way of being in the garden. We are in maintenance mode so more time is available to enjoy and be present (plus photography). Insects are lingering as well. Four or five monarchs have taken up residence. They flit and sail along gracefully in no hurry to be somewhere else. Sometimes they fly by close enough to hear their wing beats. Swarms of Pearl Crescent butterflies are on Orange Coneflowers. Lots of Zabulon Skippers wander about. Many different kinds of bees and wasps are visiting Joe Pye Weed. Just a sea of life…

Following the notes below, there are sections of drone imagery, photos of plants and beds, photos of a few garden visitors, then landscape videos.

August Notes

• Terri finished removing variegated Solomon’s seal from under the Tupelos by the patio. Those are very aggressive non-native plants. We also cut back the wood poppy in that area because it was looking crunchy… it will return next spring. The area is mulched and awaiting shade tolerant plants.
• We have a number of plants from the Master Gardener’s plant sale to get in the ground.
• Otherwise we are mostly in enjoyment maintenance mode!

Drone Imagery

Yellow is seen pretty easily from the drone imagery. The bulk of that is coming from orange coneflower. Adding to the yellow are compass plant, prairie dock, green-headed coneflower, and a bit of wild senna. The grass seems to have recovered from brown spot as the weather became drier.

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August Photos – Plants

I don’t have as many plant photos this month because I have been really taken by the insect and bird activity!

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August Photos – Garden Visitors

A sampling… not comprehensive

Lepidoptera

Dragonflies

Bees

Flies

Wasps

Birds

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Growing Degree Days

“Growing Degree Days are a measurement of the growth and development of plants and insects during the growing season. Development does not occur at this time unless the temperature is above a minimum threshold value (base temperature). The base temperature varies for different organisms. It is determined through research and experimentation.” (The Ohio State Phenology Calendar glossary page) We did a post on phenology last year. Check out the OSU Phenology Calendar to see what is happening in your area!

Landscape Videos

On August 15, 2025 when these videos were made, the growing degree days here was 2,512. For context, the 20 year GDD average for Delaware on this date is 2,419 and in recent years it has been:

• 2024: 2,841
• 2023: 2,426
• 2022: 2,602
• 2021: 2,532

Upper Level (8.15.2025)

Swale (8.15.2025)

Southwest Corner (8.15.2025)

Southeast Corner (8.15.2025)

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Video and photos by Randy Litchfield unless otherwise noted
© Randy Litchfield, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)