Flowers in the Garden

Since returning home it's been so much fun seeing how everything fared while we were away.  Gardening is a huge passion for me.  Our grandson took care of everything beautifully.  He made sure pots received supplemental watering if the heavens failed to produce enough moisture.  It's so nice to return home after an extended time to find everything in order.  Thank you, Samuel! 

Like a mother that takes care of her babies, one of the first things I wanted to see was our garden, but it was dark.  I did notice while pulling into the driveway that the daylilies were blooming profusely.  Such a simple flower that does so well in our hot, humid summers.  They are easy plants that seems to be happy wherever you plant them.

Nature always shows hope to me.  Do you see the heart upon the petals? 

The planter around our patio is full of annual vinca that are filling in nicely.  I usually like a softer shade of pink or white but I was unable to find them this year.  Sadly, our favorite local nursery closed its doors this spring.  I really hate seeing long time businesses close.

If you look closely on the left at the curve is a volunteer vinca that reseeded itself.  That's the shade I really prefer.

You may remember our large white oakleaf hydrangea.  As the temperatures soar the petals that were once white turn a lovely shade of pink.  

I planted this urn in the spring with a pack of pink and purple petunias.  If you look to the right you see one of the plants is red.  I started to pull it out, but decided not to remove it as it appears happy.  Everything in my garden is far from perfect---just like life...

I brought in some simple marigolds to the kitchen to brighten the counter.

I also picked this pink hydrangea that was blue last year.  The soil must be more alkaline now to turn such a pink shade.  I hope you cut the flowers from your garden to brighten your home.  If you have hydrangea blooms, it's easy to have a lovely blossom for a while.  Cut your blossom stem  on an angle early in the morning and place in a container of water.  Once inside boil some water.  Smash the bottom of the stem and plunge the stem in the boiling water for 30 to 40 seconds.  Apparently a sap forms when the stem is cut that will seal the capillaries disallowing the stem to send water to the blossom.  The boiling water will open them back up.  Place your stem in a vase of room temperature water and flower preservative if you have it.  Make sure to remove leaves.

Our temperatures have been quite hot and the very steamy weather makes it hard to enjoy the patio and the garden.  Hopefully the oppressive heat will move on.  In the meantime I have been enjoying my afternoon tea iced. 

 " What dreadful hot weather we have!  It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."   Jane Austen

This sweet little robin looks as though he's had enough of the heat as well.  He needs to hop a little further along and go for a swim in the birdbath.  I've seen his family splashing about there and now it's his turn to cool off. 

I do hope you will join me soon as I post more about our trip to the Norwegian Fjords.  The weather was neither hot or dreadful there.