color

If your gardening goal is to make a statement with vibrant colors, then this is your week. (I love color, but I don't need it to scream at me. I wouldn't say my flower beds are screaming right now, but I do think this year, the stronger colors -- orange, red, purple -- are making a statement! My daughter has a friend from D.C. visiting her this week and when the family and friend came to dinner at the farmhouse, I looked at the farmette landscape through her eyes and thought -- it surely wants to be heard!

In the morning, things are a little quieter, gentler. Some of the lilies are only partially opened and the low light gives them a softer look. As I snipped away, I counted 655 spent lilies. That's lower than the peak last year, possibly explained by the fact that the roadside flower bed is having trouble managing the drought (the soil is much worse there because of the winter road junk and the dense root system of the neighboring maples). Too, the front bed lilies are being gobbled by animals. Maybe groudhogs maybe deer probably both. I have very few blooms there to snip.

Aside from that front bed, everything else is looking good and healthy. The winter was kind to Wisconsin perennial gardens. This week, the flowers are at their fullest, finest and, as I said -- most colorful.

From my morning walk:

This newly planted lily has "strawberry" in its name. Yes, I can see it: strawberry colors.

("nymphs and shepherds...")

(the often ignored west facing bed is actually secretly magical...)

(vibrant!)

(double trouble, or double the fun?)

(a tiny fragment of the Big Bed...)

(Impossible to photograph the Big Bed in its entirety, but this pic shows a good bit of it...)

I didn't have time for regular ol' breakfast. I promised to pick up Snowdrop before 10 and at close to that hour, I was just finishing my work in the flower fields. That's okay: Ed and I aren't fussy about when we eat breakfast!

One item on my day's agenda is to pick up corn at Stoneman's farm up the road from us. Snowdrop is happy to tag along.

When she saw that the Stonemans were caring for young kittens and that she could watch and touch these little guys, Snowdrop vowed to return with me for every corn purchase this year.

The little girl loves cats. It is her bad luck that of the three cats in her family home, only one is totally agreeable toward kids and I'd probably not credit him with more than just being agreeable. Snowdrop loves cats anyway. I'm happy that Dance is beginning to shed her fear of the little one (all our cats are skittish around every human aside from Ed and me). Maybe some day they'll be best buds. For now, the girl is delighted to get a chance to pet the Stoneman farm kittens.

And now we have time for breakfast! Snowdrop joins us. (After a few moments in the garden.)

 

 

 

She never turns down a bowl of fruit.

 

Okay, I'm jumping straight to the evening because frankly, it comes not too long after breakfast! It's a very warm day and a warm night, and still, the porch feels pleasant enough for an outdoor dinner.

It's great to have them all here. With market beans, tomatoes and cucumber, farm corn and cheeper eggs, all you need is a light mustard dressing and some poached fish and sauteed shrimp to make a fine meal.

And after? A brief garden walk. With a sleepy Sandpiper who had his check up and shots today. (Did I hear right? 96 percentile in height!)

And there you have it: July 20th in full color. You just can't ignore it. Nor would you want to!