early bird

By 9 a.m., I have fed the animals, plucked 400+ spent lilies, pulled some weeds, knocked down a bunch of mosquitoes and whipped up some batter for blueberry muffins. Into the oven they go!

I tell you, there's something to be said for jet lag!

I keep thinking that the flowers today wont wow me as much as they did yesterday because, well, I've seen a variation on the lily theme now for several days in a row. What's there to astonish? Well now! Plenty!

Breakfast, of muffins and local berries, and very prized, considering (major crop failure this year) -- Georgia peaches.

Ed and I take a park walk again. The goal is to stay on grasses so that a barefooted stroll is pleasurable. That means we skip the woods and stick to the prairie. Which is fantastic at this time of the year! (A sudden appearance of Michigan lilies!)

I watch the swallows do their swooping flight over the purple and yellow flowers and I think -- this is too beautiful for words. (Nor do I have my camera, but no matter -- a phone snapshot will jiggle my recollection and your imagination.)

In the afternoon Snowdrop is here, but it's a brief visit once again. She has softball practice in the evening so I basically run us through our routines (she wont let go of any of them!) at blistering speed!

Pick raspberries! Read a couple of chapters from current book! Eat lots of fruit and blueberry muffins!

And then the farmette lands grow very quiet. Ed is out biking, the house is empty, the hens are hiding, the cats are prowling in the fields. I sit back and think -- such a string of lovely days! All this and blue skies and none of the scorching heat that's settled over the south. How are we so lucky!

growing things

Farmers are very adept in adjusting to unfavorable weather conditions. Their livelihood depends on it. They do all they can to compensate for heat, drought, excessive rain, unseasonable frost. But honestly, there's only so much they can do. And there is only so much you can do in your flower beds. A frost that zapped some fruit trees this year, a drought that threatened and continues to threaten your plantings -- you can only compensate so much. Gardeners have noted that some perennials have taken a pause this year (because of the drought), choosing to forgo flowering. Some offer blooms, but at a reduced number. I suppose I have a little of both: some of my plants are indeed wimpy and others are just not going to make an all out effort. Still, the established old girls are robust. They dug deep with their roots and they found water (and I did contribute a little as well) and these are the show stoppers right now.

I picked twice as many spent lily blooms this morning as I did the day before. This was predictable. Yesterday was a flashy blooming day, so the haul is bigger today. Still, I came in at just under 450 snipped lilies. In other years, I'd be closer to 800 at the peak of the season (we are in fact at the peak of the season). The encroaching tree canopies (giving way too much shade) and the absence of rain are to blame, if you want to hand out blame. But I'm loathe to gripe about this. The garden has to adjust. I cannot change Ed's mind on tree removal and I cannot pour unlimited quantities of supplemental water on flower beds. I work with what's there. And honestly, there are enough flowers out there to make any gardening nut happy. I'm not going to be greedy. 450 is plenty.

(only 9 pics this morning! progress!)

I have a more relaxed day: no appointments, no grand to do lists. I work in the garden, I read, I eat breakfast alone, because just as Ed came down for it, the zoom tune sounded and he had to address machining issues.

I take a neighborhood walk, too, because I am on a roll with my daily walking and of course, I dont want to lose my momentum!

And in the afternoon I pick up Snowdrop, also keeping to a relaxed pace, indeed, pausing first for ice cream...

... then coming back to the farmette (where unfortunately the mosquitoes are now making an appearance). She wants to show me how to make a hollyhock doll and so we pick a couple of blooms...

And eventually settle down into our routines.

And all the while, I think to myself -- even with the knee causing great readjustments for me in the way I move and rest, this has been a summer of good fortune and fabulous adventures. Has it been good for you as well? I hope so.

start and pause

If you pay close attention to the seasonal cycle of a day lily, you'll notice that there isn't a march each day toward a crescendo of blooms, receding then over the next days to a dormant state. In other words, it doesn't track a normal distribution of flowers. Instead, it leaps, and then the next day it pauses. I imagine that the plant puts out a big effort as it bursts with, say, half a dozen of new flowers, and then for the next day or two it regroups, recharges, musters its energies for the next big explosion. The funny thing is that many of the plants seem to be in communication with each other. They make an appointment to explode with blooms on the same day! So that yesterday, the flower fields were tame. Many and perhaps most of the big babes were taking a pause. Today, they've opened up again! (And no, it's not driven by the weather, of that I am sure.)

Because yesterday was so tame out there in the flower fields, I actually had a low count of spent lilies to snip today. A scant 200. Tomorrow I'll have a bucketful!

I was thinking how nature controls her show and we cannot do much to change her course. Say you planned a wedding, a party, a big dinner, smack in the middle of July so that you could show off your amazing lilies. You could well hit a calm day when many of the plants are resting. Ha ha on you! 

I am up super early once again. I'm sniffling a lot and so now I have three reasons not to sleep well in the mornings -- jet lag, knee stiffness, and sniffle-snort. No matter! I feel strong, I feel nimble. And though the lilies are just beginning to open up at these early hours of the day, the flower fields in my mind are at their most scrumptious now in the wee hours. Ten photos from today's morning, okay?? I'm cutting back!!

(huge flaming orange blooms)

(incredible mix of colors...)

(from yellow to melon to apricot to peach, all in one double flower)

(cheerful chuckling little ones)

(pink champagne flutes)

(new this year...)

(the original lily field!)

(layers and rows of plants)

(a piece of the Big Bed)

(by the porch)

Breakfast, on the porch, just with Ed.

We motorbike out to our park for a walk once more. I mean, the breeze is fabulous, the air is warm but not hot or humid, and we have good quality air right now. What more could you possibly want?

We side step to the path that runs by the corn fields. We want to check out how it's doing. Seems good to us! As far as the eye can see...

Let's put Ed next to it so that you can get a sense of its size.

Oh, the monarchs are out!

And down below, the best camouflaged frog I have ever seen!

And in the afternoon, I pick up Snowdrop from her day camp. The girl loved her Fourth of July with her family and the shirt from a small town parade-watching event remains one of her favorites. What can I say,  all those stars and stripes...

So ends a splendid day. And I have to note, one of the original day lilies here is finally in full bloom mode. I'll end with these gorgeous flowers that to me represent all that's worth struggling for in the garden. Nymphs and shepherds indeed! (Shadwell's poem, Purcell's song.)

Nymphs and shepherds, come away.
In the groves let's sport and play,
For this is Flora's holiday,
Sacred to ease and happy love,
To dancing, to music and to poetry;
Your flocks may now securely rove
Whilst you express your jollity.
Nymphs and shepherds, come away.

with love...

Sunday, lovely Sunday

How pretty the days are now! The dry soil is dampened by last week's rains, the flowers are at their prime moment, the skies are mostly blue. The winds are brisk enough to chase away pesky bugs. The morning walk, with a pail now, so that I can snip spent lilies as I proceed, is joyful. A few photos for you (I'm moderating my impulse to record it all!):

(day lilies? nope -- these are true lilium)

(here, and in the next photo as well, you wont spot any day lilies)

(in other words, it's not all about day lilies!)

(a field of mainly phloxes...)

(even as my work right now mostly focuses on these gorgeous blooms)

I'm done with my work early: animals fed, lilies snipped. That's a good thing, because I have a breakfast date with my good friend who once again is passing through this way.

How I love these loyal old friends! The morning with her is like a gift, really it is. Staying close to people who live far away can be a challenge. Not here, though. Texting, zooming, visiting -- the sacred trilogy that keeps us together!

I'm home by noon -- in time for a "second breakfast!"

Ed proposes a bike ride and I am on board! I get the electric one and he keeps up on his regular old workhorse and we virtually fly together to Lake Waubesa and back around the bike trails that now come around so close to our home! It's a grand way to feel the summer on your face, in your hair. And of course, you feel like you've done some good work with your muscles, even on the e-bike.

And in the evening the young family is here for supper.

(no, it's not raining!)

We haven't eaten together, on the porch for several weeks now. Talk about the feel of summer! This is it!

And so ends a day that has no wrinkles, no smudges, because the good moments so outshine anything that could spoil it for us. Summer time at her best! 

with so much love...