Sunflower Morning

Well, in the interests of full disclosure, I'll admit right off that these are all pictures from Wednesday morning. But it was a full day at work and then the computer decided to be difficult late last night, so I'm only getting around to sharing them now.

As you can see, the sunflowers are the Energizer Bunnies of this year's garden: they just keep growing and growing!

Here's a fresh zucchini flower down in the ground level of the Three Sisters garden, where it's joined by a fresh chorus of allyssum. I know I expressed a little dismay not to have had any fruits from the earlier blossoming, but I just love the flowers, too!

I really don't feel like I'm in control of these sunflowers any more (really, any sense of control I might've once felt was more likely an illusion, anyway...).

For a while, I was at least keeping track of seedlings showing up more or less where I planted them...but I guess I was a bit casual with where the last seeds of each packed up, since they are showing up in great stalks in places that are now catching me by surprise.

There are zinnia seedlings coming up and I'll have to give them a closer look tomorrow morning, since I think I saw a flower bud forming on one sometime recently. I'm getting a little impatient with the other cosmos, and I wonder if perhaps they haven't received too much benefit from the fertilizer pellets I've scattered around.

I know they will often do well in lesser soils (thus their other name of peasant flower). But I sure hope they start blooming soon--their pinks and carmines and whites would be a lovely addition to the border, and I'm really very eager to see those seashell petals.


I also planted seeds for both ever last
ings (straw flowers) and statice, but I haven't really seen anything resembling them. Either they were not a successful part of this year's grand and glorious experiment, or perhaps they are waiting to surprise me when I have given them up for lost.

Meanwhile, though, the bachelor's buttons are putting on a pretty enjoyable show.

Speaking of good shows, did you know that the United States Olympic team has now earned 14 gold medals, 12 silver and 17 bronze, for a grand total of 43 so far at the Summer Games in Beijing?

This pair of Pansy Pals caught my eye in the lower realm of the front border. These guys are right out there in the sun, though no doubt the secret of their success is wrapped up in being at least partially shaded by some of their taller neighbors.

I did get to see a few meteors when I went out into the yard late the other night, but sadly, my plans to visit some light-pollution-free beach parking lot was curtailed by an annoying bit of cloud cover.

Ah, well...at least I got to see a few this year...and just in case, I'll wander out there shortly to see if I can catch a few more. Meanwhile, the moon was nearly full tonight and if she was shining in your window, it's because I asked her to look in on you. ; )

Meanwhile, for those of you breathing a sigh of relief (or wistfulness) that I'd not shown you any morning glories...well, here they are, happily cavorting with one of the cleome plants. The morning glories are continuing to be a challenge, as I have to unwrap them from around the various flags on the fence every day.

But still, as incorrigible flowers go, they are fun to have around. Next year, I'll have to encourage them to climb on the sunflowers, instead of the fence.

That'd be fun, I bet.

Fireworks of the Floral Variety

Sorry to say that after the parade on Friday, the weather began to take a bit of a turn for the remainder of the holiday weekend. By late Friday night, it was raining and Saturday morning's early hours wore a foggy misty cloak of gray.

After having stayed up so late to put together the slideshow, I was happy to have the excuse not to water the garden and I didn't even take any new photos before dashing off to work.

However, I do have a few I took after the parade on Friday, which I still haven't shown you yet. One of them is terrific substitute for that great ball of fire in the sky. Is there any doubt why they're called sunflowers?


I still don't know exactly what these little purple flowers are. I've not yet found them in any guides, though have suspected they are some unhybridized version of something more familiar...perhaps another kind of veronica or something.

Anyway, nice fireworks substitute there.




Again defying reports of its death (ah, if it had been so for its namesake), the tea rose Mister Lincoln has produced a most beautiful and perfect looking rosebud. I really thought he was dead for real this time, so this just goes to show you how much I know.

This is one I really wish you could push your nose into--its scent is heavenly!

The Chrysler tea rose is being rather prolific this year, now offering its second and third yellow blossoms, with still a few more on the way after that!




Here are some lovely oriental lilies I was enjoying at work today, such a sweet fragrance!

They were featured in the wedding arrange ments of Leia and Frank, who were joined in marriage at our location and then celebrated throughout the afternoon.

It's been a pleasure working with them these last few weeks and I offer them my heartiest congratulations, along with best wishes for Much Happiness and Love Always.

(And hey, look in the background, you can see those three yucca plants blooming along the driveway!)

Some late afternoon showers were pretty heavy and managed to dampen my spirits for trying to do some fireworks photography near Rock Harbor this evening. By the time the skies cleared again, just before the display was to begin, I was already comfortably relaxing at home and didn't feature getting back into the car again.

Freedom

And so here we are, the Fourth of July. It's the big celebration that kicks off each summer. Parades have always been a part of the day for me, having grown-up in an Elks Club family. I remember those humid New Jersey mornings when we'd rendezvous with family and friends to stake out some hopefully-shady spot along the parade route, where we would sit...and stand...and pace as kids do, impatient until the first police car siren was heard, until we caught the first glimpse of that flag waving in the morning light. The crash of cymbals, the drum cadence, the blare of trumpets, the thrilling sound of marching steps in unison. Of course, I never realized any military implications in all that, though it seems so crystal clear today.

Things are simple when you're a kid...there's balloons and bands and funny cars and clowns (I've never been afraid of them, despite Tim Curry and Steven King's best efforts), fire trucks and who knows what else. No doubt it was a thrilling couple of days, usually with any number of opportunities to see the fireworks displays of various townships and organizations, outdoor concerts on park greens, and all the picnicking or barbecuing with family and friends.

We'll be working through some of this holiday weekend, but hopefully there'll be time to squeeze a few of those traditions in here and there--I think our schedule will work out nicely to allow that. I'll try to share some of those moments with you, as time allows. And I've made a switch with the playlist for the weekend, choosing a few things that feel appropriate to the occasion.

Meanwhile, the garden along the fence is offering its own version of a spectacular fireworks display, though it is a bit more slow-motion than the traditional skyrockets. Today, this second rudbeckia flower opened...completely different from the first, but bursting forth from the same clump.

Not far away, a tall pink garden phlox has opened its first sweetly-scented flower, and more are swelling, their bright pink petals slowly spiralling open. A little lower, the small yellow flowers of coreopsis echo the shapes of the stately Shasta Daisies, while brilliant orange and red daylilies airburst all along the fence.


I hope your weekend brings you oppor tunities to explore your world, like this young cowbird who was off on his own, foraging in the lawn this morning.

'Tis true, Independence Day is an American holiday, celebrating the birth of a new nation on the shores of a New World two hundred and thirty-two years ago today. Although this sounds quite old by human standards, when held against the yardstick of the other nations of the world, we are quite young, a whippersnapper, really...and perhaps can be forgiven for some of the brashness we have shown over the years. It's also possible we ought to be sent to reform school. I feel myself scraping along the side of politics and that's absolutely not where I want to go.

Independence Day is more than a birthday party. It's a celebration of freedom, though typically, we don't ever seem very certain what that should mean, exactly. We say all men are created equal, but we don't always act like that's true. We believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness...within certain guidelines, of course, as to what Happiness might actually be, and who's Life we're talking about, and it's quite possible Liberty's just a pretty statue in the harbor.

Silly homo sapiens, thinking we have all the big ideas and the answers.

Wherever you are on this big planet of ours, I hope today finds you with a nice sunny day, or at least partly so. One that teases, its big green finger beckoning, enticing you out the front door, down the street or through the woods, or along some glistening shore...into some place that's green...where you can get a glimpse of what freedom really looks like: through the soaring birds in the air, or the squirrels and chipmunks who dart and dash about, fish who break the surface of the water, the fluttering butterfly, a basking reptile. Take a deep breathe and try to put yourself in their lack of shoes for a few minutes.

"Freedom ain't a state like Maine or Virginia
Freedom ain't across some county line
Freedom is a flame that burns within ya
Freedom's in the state of mind!"
- Shenandoah, Gary Geld and Larry Udell,

Last Light

Clouds Across the Moon

Last night we hosted a barbecue. Not a huge affair, nothing to trouble the neighbors with, just a chance to spend some time with some friends outside the workplace, celebrate the arrival of the warmer months and have some laughs.

There was good food, good drink, good company, good tunes, hammock swinging, bird poo and hot tubbing. Pretty much everything a proper party requires.


There was even a garden tour or two, with guest appear ances by the nibblers, who were in stealth mode with all the parked cars for cover.


My morning watering routine always includes emptying the cruddy water out of the bird bath, then rinsing and refilling it so it's always fresh for the birdies. So I always take the cap off, and so I was surprised this morning to discover this elaborate network of spiderwebs inside the flower pot-base of the birdbath, where none existed yesterday.

I thought the pattern was pretty cool, especially the way it turns invisible close to the edges and seems to just hang in midair like some anti-gravity science project. I wonder what sort of bugs you catch in a dark, dank space like that.

It turned cool last evening as the party was winding down. In fact, we even caught the scent of skunk drifting on the air. Fan of classic cartoons that I am, I'd love to be able to say that the distinctive scent drifted through the gathered guests and the cry of "Le Pew!" went up, causing a cloud-raising stampede for the cars. But really, the party was just about put to bed by the time the skunk seemed to pass by.

A nice surprise this weekend. You may recall that way back on April 1st, when I planted those first sunflower seeds, I also potted up a ginger root that my Granny sent me. After two long months, it has finally burst through the surface of the potting soil in this big pointy nub.

Before long, there'll be several stalks, each one about two feet high and as the summer goes on, there'll be purple flowers. I look forward to sharing them with you.

Always one to take a cue from the Universe, I poured myself another cup of coffee after the watering was through and called Granny in Florida for a nice phone visit. She sounded great and we had a terrific chat, mostly about gardens but also about life in general. She turned 89 a few weeks ago and this spring also decided to give up driving...which she hadn't been doing for all that long.

With the price of gas being what it is, she doesn't really miss the expense of driving, but definitely some of the convenience. I counseled caution when she talked about crossing four lanes of traffic to go grocery shopping. We've encouraged her to take cabs with the money she saves not having a car, but she's always been an independent thinker and does what she likes.


This afternoon at work, I heard a lot of bird activity outside and discovered this red tailed hawk perched up on the power pole. He was taking a break from deviling a few crows' nests in the area, causing the black birds to start mobbing this bigger bird when it resumed soaring through the air.

I was able to hear that distinctive cry a few times...what a sound! You can hear it here, if you like.

The rose bush which was here on the property before I built a garden around it is now covered with buds, many of them about to unfurl. I wonder if it will be scented.


Did you know that June 14th is commemorated as Flag Day here in the U.S.? It's the anniversary of the date that the Stars and Stripes was adopted as the flag of the country in 1777.

The holiday was established nationally by Woodrow Wilson in 1916, but made official by Harry Truman through an Act of Congress in 1949.

I'm sure you know that seamstress Betsy Ross designed the first version of the stars and bars in 1776, inspired by the misadventures of Bugs Bunny and a garden rake.

Our temperatures remained on the cool side today, in the sixties and clouds are drifting across the moon this evening. In fact, the forecast suggests that the week ahead may be a rainy one. It'll be a busy week at work, so this is not bad news to me.

However, some troubling news did come this evening, in a phone call from Mom.

After our conver sation this morning, Granny was heading over to the Publix, and while crossing the afore-mentioned four lanes of traffic, was hit by a car.

She's in the hospital this evening in Gainesville, and we're all feeling a bit helpless here in the north and awaiting word on how she's doing.

If prayers are in your kitbag, I ask you to share one for her good health and speedy recovery. If not prayers, then any good thoughts you can spare in her direction would be most welcomed and appreciated.

Although I'm worried as hell, I expect she will be just fine--after all, this morning she told me she was planning to beat her elder sister's lifespan of 90, making her the longest-lived on that side of the family.