Summer's Perfume...

    ...The day began with delightful aromas that spoke to me of late summer.  Lemon verbena soap stirred memories from joyful summers spent wandering around my favorite herb farm that is no longer in business.  As I washed my face I immersed myself in those delicious memories.  Sunlight sparkled on the leaves and blossoms of the anise hyssop standing tall in my tiny garden.  The pollinators should be happy with this crop of hyssop.  So far, the day was cool enough in the morning to plant the rest of the hyssop that I was too hot and uncomfortable to bother with.  They had been modestly growing in pots that were way too small for them.  Though the hyssop might not reach the same height as their taller fellow plants, they would still have enough time to produce blossoms before the frosts end the growing season.  I may try to use some of it to make my own cough medicine elixirs toward this winter and what may come.  Even though I had plenty of marjoram in pots, this morning I managed to transfer a batch from a too small pot into a much larger one.  "Finally!" I thought.  The wretched heat and humidity in Ohio has kept me from accomplishing this task a long time ago.  Tiny or not, the marjoram were diligently cranking out their fragrant herbie leaves for my harvesting.  Another wonderful summer aroma!  And Holy Basil, oh my!  In spite of the heat it has been blooming and growing all summer.  The fruity herbie scent sends me to my happy place instantly.  I am about to make herb vinegars with the other basils and my rosemary.  The one scent that spells end of summer and early fall is that of Sweet Annie.  All the artemesias are so draught resistant that the heat and lack of rain hardly affected them.  Though I only had one plant of Sweet Annie, it grew tall and bushy.  I have begun to harvest it to dry as it hangs in my stairway. The herbal sweetness of its aroma puts me in such a great frame of mind.   What is fall without a Sweet Annie ?  I am in herbal heaven.  Even the lone lavender plant I saved from the Mad Whacker has repaid me with many handfuls of fragrant stems of perfumed ecstasy.  Note to self; must have more lavender...  Thyme has been a garden joy this summer.  This year they have produced a bumper crop for me considering the petite size of my gardening space.  Each thyme has its own unique perfume.       What a joy to harvest!  Yellow buds are appearing on my fennel plants. The black swallowtail butterflies will rejoice at that discovery.  I can hardly wait for the seeds to appear as well as to harvesting the fennel bulbs.  
     After battling with the local groundhog's sneak attacks on my sunflower sprouts, I finally have the promise of real sunflowers.  This summer I managed to grow a shorter version of sunflower.  Last year I dried the petals and seed heads of sunflowers to create a potpourri.  After a time of curing I realized that the blend had produced an exotic aroma that was quite unexpected.  This year's crop will become material for potpourri, too. I may add something else to the blend, but haven't decided what that will be just yet.  
     So, as summer winds down, fall is soon to present itself.  Now is the time to harvest.  Projects for holiday herbal goodies need to be planned now.  The gardening treasures are ready now, heat or not.  Fortunately the mornings are cooler.  That's the best time to harvest the herbs anyway.  The essential oils are at their peak in the morning before the heat of the day sets in.  Ah, so many herbs, so little time.  
       Summer, you've been rough on us here in Ohio, but we survived. As I watch Squirrelzinni walking across the electric lines from house to house I know that the Circus Magicus has come to town once again. The fall festivals are lining up and with them comes a different scent on the winds.  On that day I shall sniff the wind as I learned from my Labrador Clancey, and relish the essence of fall.Until then I am capturing as much of summer as I can.  Winter won't be as brutal when I can smell or taste a summer memory now and then...                                                                                sweet summer perfume...