thursday's garden

Yesterday, I had to leave off near the middle of showing you the myriad of pictures I took that morning, but be forewarned, there are even more to share today of that deliriously quintessential summer morning in the garden.

The hydrangeas are about to take over the planet

Onion blossoms pouring out of their bonnet

Delicate pea blossoms

draping pea blossoms

garlic scapes which we'll probably have tonight in a stir fry which is really a stir steam at our house as I like to add a good oil at the end.

Wally's vegetable garden with beets in the foreground, the large leaves of zucchini behind and random dill beyond, self seeded.

tubular clematis buds

Sometimes I can't decide which picture to share

The fireworks of a clematis pistil and stamen

I'm always surprised by how hairy some flowers are

This one is opening sideways, staying quite flat at first- I'm not squeezing it, just holding it still by the stem as the breeze is working against my close-ups.

 "Reach for the Sky"

This little clematis bud does its best.

Can you see how big the Hollyhock buds are at the top

and yet smaller buds are coming along the stalk?

The Hollyhocks will bloom almost black, a most unusual colour.

By a side entrance we never use, the pink mallow are happy!

They bloom in opposing groups making a dainty flower seem massive.

Mallow rapture

I look for the Fibonacci spiral everywhere. You can see it in these exquisite blooms.

a miracle unfolding

and then a visitor!

Not a typical honeybee

but benign nonetheless

I love how some insects have no immediate fear allowing me to get pretty close.

Do you see it sliding down the pistil, gathering the dust of pollen on its legs?

An Asian Lily in the Mallow Garden that we haven't given up calling the Lily Garden.

Not too long ago I showed you this little flower in bud, part of a commercially planted pot we got on sale, its pinks spent for the moment. I dead-headed them in hopes they'll come back.

I have learned that this is Scabiosa, informally known as Pincushion Flower because of the myriad of stamen that grow between the petals of this tight little (look at the size of my fingers) bloom.

The arrow shaped leaves in that same pot have some pretty dramatic violet veining.

 In the far corner, past the ash tree, Wally planted a little blue spruce (just to the right of the day lilies), a personal favourite from my childhood. I have a fantasy that one day I may be around to see it make a proper Christmas tree and block the view of the road beyond when the greenery is gone.

This day lily grows above the little blue spruce.

The second day lily blooming

I have no idea what this bush is that has these little flowers though I suspect it is another privet.

I'm always surprised to find a bug in my shots, not always noticing them until I go to correct my photos.

Monster plants are growing alongside the garage.

In amongst them is a rash of Catchweed Bedstraw with their tiny Velcro-like clingers on their stems and flowers that will grow into cleavers, the tiny burrs that stick to anything that passes by. I've spent many a time picking them off my pant legs in the late summer.

And that's it for now. Are you still with me? Good Grief, we're suckers for punishment!

😉

Thinking of another beloved friend whose birthday was on the 5th.

Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, a fig tree. Bodhi means enlightenment.

This time I "aged" the paper around my drawing with brown coloured pencil. As with recent coloured pencil drawings I have shown you, I used an India ink brush pen by Pitt for some outlining.

Namaste

pronounced nuh-muss-TEH

"I bow to the divine in you"