Summertime and Fireflies

Rudbeckia 'Indian Summer"

My gardens are bursting with color! Yellow flowers seem to predominate in July, but there is so much variety. The deep golden yellow blossoms of the giant-headed Indian Summer Rudbeckia are definitely a favorite.

Heliopsis helianthoides
'Summer Sun'

Many varieties of bright yellow coreopsis and heliopsis share their cheery daisy-like faces all over the yard. Since these freely spread and reseed, they’ve been planted and transplanted all over the property. So every corner of the yard lights up with little bursts of yellow flowers. The bees and butterflies are in heaven!

Evening brings out flashes of yellow, too. The yard and edges of the woods glow briefly with the lights of dozens of fireflies. Seeing their display makes me smile and feel like a kid again. I want to run and catch them, and watch them glow in my hand. Then I remember the mosquitoes are out there, too, and I decide to enjoy their light show through the window instead.

Fragrant Summer Phlox

Incredibly fragrant summer phlox bows its giant heads of perfumed petals, and I can’t resist burying my nose in the blossoms. These deep pinks and whites add their own color to the show.

Towering over the rudbeckia are the tallest Stargazer lilies I’ve ever seen. They’re still in the bud stage, but promising to be extraordinary after our wet spring. I can hardly wait for them to open and perfume the air with their heavenly scent.

Lovely (or lowly?) Marigold

We've recently had an incredible heat wave in our area. It was so hot that it was difficult to be outside; so humid that it was hard to breathe. When the weather is like that, unless you can spend the day in a lake or pool, it’s best to stay indoors in the air conditioning. A day spent at the water park last week was a brief respite, though there’s only so much chlorine a body can take in one day!

Supertunia 'Pretty Much Picasso'

So what’s a person to do? Staying indoors is disappointing when we’ve waited all winter to be outdoors to celebrate this flush of new life in the natural world. Heavy leaf growth on the trees makes for a thick canopy and blessed shade. Flowering shrubs burst with color, and all the perennials are joyously doing their summer thing. The view from every window lures us out into the sunshine to revel in the summer sunshine.

Annuals, perennials and herbs mingle

Frequent rains of early summer brought great growth rates, but have become less frequent as summer moves on. So all of these gardens require diligent watering to keep them happy and blooming. Mosquitoes eat me alive as I try to keep up with the watering schedule, but the reward of being surrounded by gorgeous blooms makes all the work – and bug bites – worth it.

I wanted to share these pictures of my flowers, and my delight in summer’s glory. The joy I get from every blossom is magnified when a hummingbird or butterfly enjoys my flowers too! Every nip and taste of nectar they enjoy makes my ‘job’ worth it for me.

Large cherry tomatoes

Soon we will enjoy natures’ bounty from the veggies I’ve planted, too. My mouth waters waiting to bite into that first ripe tomato, still warmed from the sun. That, to me, is heaven on earth. 

Plum tomatoes looking plummy

We need to celebrate summertime, and enjoy the fruits of our labors in the garden. For all too soon, the flowers will wither when autumn winds blow, and leaves will begin to fall, ushering in our long Wisconsin winter. The cooler temperatures that arrived unexpectedly yesterday are a foretaste of the cooler days of autumn to come. 

So, even when it’s hard to take the heat (though I know there are some of you out there who love the hot weather), keep in mind that this time of year is brief; and enjoy the little pleasures of flowers and fireflies and Fudgesicles, and all the joys that summertime brings.

Summer scene in my pines

I've included many more photos than I usually do for this post, but I wanted you to feel like you were in my gardens enjoying the flowers. If you want to see a picture in more detail, just click on it and it will enlarge.

Now it's your turn... what's your favorite flower? And do you like the heat or the cooler temps? Being a northern girl, I'm pretty happy with this cool Canadian air in July. It's unusual, but I'll take it over the heat and humidity any day!

Happy Gardening! 

Garden of Hope

Our spring lawns, once lush and green, were crunching under our feet. The fields of endless rows of corn displayed drying husks months too soon. Though we have received some respite with the recent thunderstorms, it will take more than a few showers to restore all the plants, and some, including crops, may be beyond remedy.

These pictures are from my gardens, which I have maintained throughout the drought by daily watering. Though time-consuming, this was very important to me, because watching my gardens grow brings me joy and hope. I would suffer along with my plants if I allowed them to whither and die.

This tiny portion of earth that I have kept watered has kept my hope alive that life will be restored in the parched areas of the Midwest and beyond. This drought has left many shrubs crispy and brown, and trees have languished with the lack of moisture. I shudder to think of the farmers who depend on their crops as their livelihood, wondering if there will be any crops at all to harvest.

Thankfully rains, sometimes in the form of storms and torrential downpours, including hail and high winds have scattered over our parched land here in Southeastern Wisconsin, bringing respite to the plants and hope to the farmers.

Amidst the despair of watching so many plants succumb to the drought, these bright gardens of mine have given me hope that life will be restored once again.

This awful drought in the season of what is normally a thriving growth period has reminded me of winter, when all hope can be lost of seeing the natural world spring back to life. We wait anxiously hoping for life to be restored.

There are times in our personal lives, too, where seasons of drought or deep winter affect how we find hope in our lives, yet we need to have hope to believe in new beginnings.

One way to begin finding hope is to be grateful for what we have instead of bemoaning what we do not have. It is helpful to make a daily list of what you are thankful for. Make this a habit. It can be little things, simple things, things that bring you joy.

When we begin to focus on what is good in our lives, we find the strength to make it through the challenging times. Daily keeping our focus on God, who provides all we need, and offering thanks to Him for the goodness in our lives, helps to keep our thoughts more positive. This, in turn, kindles our hope for better tomorrows.

We believe in the goodness that life can bring. Though we must suffer through storms of life and difficult times when we feel our hearts will break, if we an can focus on what is good and true, offering thanks and truly feeling grateful, we can weather whatever comes our way, whether it be drought or storm.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy —think about such things."  Phillipians 4:8 (NIV)