Taking a Stroll II - July 2017

What has Gully (the cat) so transfixed?

Not the flowers, surely! They are just fixtures around which to hunt...

...or to seek shade for a rest.

Instead she is keeping her eye on Elsa.
So many cameras in the flower garden today!

So many flowers to be enjoyed and photographed in July!

The fluffy, pink, Southern Belle echinacea below has a funny twist this year.

It is also growing plain yellow flowers.

And orange flowers!

The hanging lilies from Grandma's flower garden are thriving.

One has to crouch down and look up to enjoy these shiny "faces."

What amazing blossoms these day-lilies put forth -- to last only one day!

Sweet smelling phlox

Spearmint taking over the path

Mother-hen and baby chicks

Reaching for the skies!

A new kind of zucchini for us - Eight Ball

Several varieties of basil embellish our summer foods while gladiola bulbs shoot up nearby.

The volunteer bachelor buttons have been a bright spot in both garden and bouquets.

In the Boat with Him

Thou are the Lord who slept upon the pillow,
Thou are the Lord who soothed the furious sea,
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?
Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou are silent, and the wind is shrill;
Can the boat sink while Thou, Dear Lord, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

- Amy Carmichael

A Gift of Flowers

Most Sundays in summer, a lady brings flowers from her garden to decorate the front of the church. Recently I heard she was sending the bouquets home with different people each week to continue the blessing. One Sunday Mom came home with a brilliant, overflowing vase of gladiolas for us all to enjoy! 

The many colors and tones drew our eyes for a week of wonder.

What made the gift even more special was that the giver had thought through how these are one kind of garden flower that is unscented, so we didn't have to banish them across the room or to Mom and Dad's bedroom!

Taking a Stroll - July 2017

July Harvest 2017

Rainbow-colored Swiss Chard stalks

Swiss Chard leaves ready for stir-fry

Stir-fries of all sorts are a near-daily staple in this season.

Four varieties of cucumbers - ready for taste-testing

Dad is growing amazing celery and parsley!

Some celery and parsley along with half an apple
were added to each batch of kale Dad and I juiced one day.

Our garden juice carried us through a shipping failure
of our usual green powder supplement.
The order reached a town 30 minutes from us but never arrived!

Huge heads of crispy lettuce

Add some homegrown cucumber, radishes, snap peas,
and green onion plus carrots and avocado from the store.

Delicious! Even without the taco-seasoned meat we sometimes add.

July Bouquets 2017

Why do I keep posting photos of our flowers and bouquets
month after month, summer after summer?

Cream and yellow lilies

Maybe they all begin to look the same to you.
But to me, they are individual gifts - new each day. 

Salmon-colored, ruffled day-lily

White lily, purple spikes of liatris, and several colors of echinacea

Seen from underneath, another kind of lily shows its shy but glowing face.

A little bouquet to send in the car with Mom and Dad on their anniversary trip

Some more bouquets came about as a result of replacing the cement in front of our house. (No more funneling heavy rains into an old well-pit in the basement!)

 

The liatris had to move to leave the workmen space. So we enjoyed their purple spikes indoors instead.

Looking closely, you can see that each flower spike is made up of countless tiny flowers.

Surprisingly, the buds open from top to bottom of each spike.

Compare these to last July's flowers:

July Garden Bouquets

July Garden Bouquets II