Well, it's August and the plants are exhausted. The snapdragons are breathing hard if not already expired and the hibiscus are not too crazy about blooming right now. But the periwinkles are doing great. They have taken over the front beds and are just smiling at the world.

The oleanders are still going strong, although our Ollie (the adopted one we brought home a few months ago) is still not doing much. So, I've decided the old boy is going to get a haircut this weekend. And then, it's either sink or swim literally.

We've had so much rain lately the water from the pond has actually come up to kiss his little roots. Although there's still lots of green in his limbs, the dude won't throw me any sign of life. There are no new sprouts, no movement toward the skies, nothing. I was so hopeful when we first brought him home. We even put our little adopted cement rabbit with him hoping that would give Ollie the boost he needed to start acclimating. Now I just think he's playing hard to get.

So it's August. The grass has grown to about 1 and 1/2 feet tall out back because it's been raining so daggone much we can't even get out there and mow. I caught the front lawn one early morning just before the torrential rains, so at least it doesn't look too bedraggled out there and our neighbors can still act like we're decent people. But the backyard is pretty bad. Even the dogs don't want to go out very far to do their business.

Saturday will be our day of reckoning. They say the weather will be a bit cooler and we can actually count on a pretty solid day of sun. If that's the case, the lawn will get mowed and Ollie will get cropped. I'm thinking he's putting too much energy into the old dead stuff still hanging around on his limbs. So the backyard will get cleaned up and Ollie will either push out his chest and be happy or thumb his nose at me and hang on until next year, playing me like a fine fiddle. I'll keep you posted on his progress. Happy Florida Gardening.