The dog days of August

Welcome to the dog days of August, which, by the way, gets its name from Sirius, the Dog Star. Sirius is one of our brightest stars and is at its brightest in August. Someone determined that dogs suffer more from the heat than humans; hence, we have the dog days.   

In July, we had the “raining cats and dogs” days. These rainy days caused our club to cancel meetings and garden tours. And so, we are playing catch-up in August. 

In addition, on Aug. 17 we will have the dedication of the Blue Star Memorial that was installed at the Banks Street Park, Main Street, Center Moriches, last year as an Eagle Scout project.  It’s at 1 p.m. and all are welcome.  

Also, this month we are presenting a National Garden Club small standard flower show, Celebrate at the Masury Estate. The show is open to the public and free, Friday, Aug. 20, 12 to 4 p.m. and Saturday, 12 to 4 p.m. The Masury Estate is located at 67 Old Neck Road, Center Moriches.  

In between the raindrops, I visited Betty Roston’s garden (pictured). Her garden runs around the perimeter of her property and continues all around her house.  She has a wide variety of flowers and shrubs all arranged in a whimsical, cottage style.  I left with a ruffled lavender and white hollyhock, all potted up and ready to plant in my own garden. Betty is a MBGC board member and is a volunteer gardener at the Lady of the Island Shrine. By the way, she is always looking for volunteers to help at the shrine—you can contact her at 632-878-1784. 

Take a minute to share a plant with a fellow gardener.