end of july in the garden

 

Two days ago I wondered why I could hear the street cleaner at this time of year. I kept looking out the window as it seemed to go by, but could never see it. Hmm.

 

Then, a subtle perfume began to fill the house that I couldn't identify at first. Was it our new bath soap? No-o. As it became stronger I realized it was sweet grass. The sound seemed to be predominantly at one side of the house so I figured my neighbour was cutting the grass. Finally I went to look out the back of the house where one window was still open to get the cooling night breeze.

 



The sun was high and little puffs of cloud were floating beneath the high altostratus. The brisk breeze was calming in the heat of the late morning sun.   It was time to close the window

 

The particular motor sound I heard was coming from behind the house.

 

Aha! The riddle solved!

The field behind our house was being hayed.

 

By the time I made it out, he had already finished our side of the field

and was working on a rectangle at the back.

 

I was out long enough to realize that the mower is lifted at every turn

 

As the uncut grass is approached, the mower is lowered

 

and set down at the beginning of the "cut"

 

and he carries on up the hill again

 

I would think this would be a very gratifying job done

 

rows of mown hay drying in the sun

 

One regret of mine is that I never photographed the amazing field of lupins that grew this year.

Here are a few lupin seed pods that remain.

 

 

I know this is a weird shot but I thought I'd include it anyway.

Can you guess what it is?

I won't leave you hanging. It is a crow among several that had come

 to browse the new mown hay for "easy pickin's"

 

A parting view of the tractor through the wild rose bush

 

To the right of me, a huge wild rose bush that had already bloomed without our appreciation of it, obscured by the back border hedge.

 

Now I will turn from the field out back to our little gardens of vegetables and flowers.

 

and here you see that hedge that dwarfs our little vegetable garden

 

At my feet a crow's feather and a hidden cherry, all that remains of the feast

that the neighbour's cherry tree provided,

 devoured by the starlings that stayed all one day last week, chattering and partying.

 

Peas on the left, beans on the right, zucchini at the back

 

Wally was so worried that his bush beans were actually growing out of control

 that he laid another trellis on top of the one that was already there.

 

pretty green bean blossoms

 

a pea blossom is about this size

 

holding the pea blossom up to see its delicate underside

 

tomatoes are looking healthy

 

arugula, lettuce and mustard

 

beet greens and me

 

dill

 

dill flowers

 

Oh! and who is this?

 

amazing blue/black wasp

 

his neatly folded stained glass wings

 

another visitor

 

a bee I guess

 

a gorgeous copper coloured fly

 

a regular old housefly

The bugs seem to love the dill

 

I found this dreamy corner of one of my photographs

 

a hardened old poppy head

 

a lone Harrelson apple

I guess the deer got the rest

 

an elderberry

I had to make this macro shot to show its beauty

but really it is only about 1/2 inch across

 

 

The lilies have been looking like this for months.

Boy they need a long incubation period

 

Fortunately the wild pink mallow make the lily garden look  pretty

until the lilies are ready to make their debut

 

Then the Echinacea that we thought we'd lost during the hurricane several weeks ago;

 they grow around the homemade composter

(full of ash tree leaves from branches that fell during the hurricane.)

 

 Echinacea Siblings

 

The graceful petals lean away like a ballerina's tutu.

 

In amongst the seed head are a constellation of starry stamens!

 

Upon departing this Echinacea caught my camera strap

"please don't go" it seemed to say.

 

Sorry for another mind blip as I cannot remember

what these desert-like flowers are called that grow beside the Echinacea

 

I see these botanical wonders and I marvel at how prehistoric they seem

 

On the other side of the composter the clematis are making a weak show of it

but welcome nonetheless

 

The Hollyhocks, on the other hand are doing marvellously well

 

a macro shot of the hollyhocks centre

 

The seed pod of a spent hollyhock

 

The star shape of a hollyhock about to bloom

 

a saucy little exotic African daisy

 

Jacob's Ladder

 

The blooms on a hosta, a member of the lily family

 

such a hardy petal

 

with stamens that curl backward as if too shy

 

Sweet William for my Wally

 

The back porch pots in lush bloom

 

Pink Pink Pink for Wally's mother

 

and the cherry tomatoes finally blushing

 

Too pretty to break up the party

 

And so ends July. It's been a rocky month in so many ways, but nature carries on and therein lays the message. There is great beauty and magic all around us and we absolutely must connect to that greater reality, more than ever when time are rough.

 

take comfort in your blessings