Love-in-a-mist.

For you.

There is your hue in high summer. A splash of layered, rich lavender on jade.

With waning light you knit a feathery lattice. A gauzy softness from afar.

A smooth heart forms where petals fall. Streaked with plum and strength.

We bundle together, a “cram” of shrouded hearts.

You are now love fringed in mist.

I love you, in the mist.

This Moment.

Joining Amanda at Soulemama today with:

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Please feel free to share your moment with us.

Hand to hand.

From your hands to the earth.

From the earth to the roots.

From the roots to the stems.

From the stems to the leaves.

From the leaves to the flowers.

From the flowers to the fruit.

From the fruit to your hands.

From your hands to my hands.

I receive my treasures from hand to hand.

Sweet Peas.

I will remember always the sun setting low, pure sweetness drifting by, a hedgerow of sweet peas. In every color and pattern we clipped and inhaled, strolled and laughed, bundled and breathed, my mom and my sister and I. It doesn’t get better than this.

Even the one, yes one, solitary, mauve sweet pea which bloomed in my yard this year renews the loveliness of this memory. I am also glad for the many scattered bouquets and just opened blossoms greeting me as my sister’s guest.

 

{: Up Close :} Solved!

Thanks so much for playing with us!  Join us again in a few weeks for

:: Up Close ::

1:

Yarrow, mixed pastel colors, Achillea millefolium

2:

Kolhlrabi, top. Brassica species.

3:

Scented Geranium ‘Lady Plymouth’,  Pelargonium species.

{: Up Close :}

Hello growers, friends, visitors!

Here are our three close-up, zoomed-in, macro photos.

Please, take a guess at the broad focus and post your ideas in the comments.

We’ll post the answers to the images on Sunday afternoon… Have fun!

{: Up Close :}

1:

2:

3:

Sky-sweepers.

The most magnificent giants inhabit our garden this year.  We have watched in sheer amazement as they grew from seeds to transplants to SOARING towers in our “kinder garden”.

Last year we were thrilled with the robust growth of our towering sunflowers, but this season, it is our broom corn.

Seed Source: Nichols Garden Nursery, Albany, Oregon.

Oh, just think of all the fun we’ll have with our homemade “brooms”.  My guess is we won’t be doing much sweeping!

Plant Profile: Poppy ‘Danish Flag’

There is always a bit of a thrill mixed in with my ordinary seed orders each spring.  I spontaneously add a few extra packets to the list.  Newbies.  Will they do well in my zone 4 climate?  I am thrilled with my impulsive purchase this season.

 

Common Name: Danish Flag Poppy, Feathered Poppy, Fringed Poppy

Latin Name: Papaver somniferum

Family: Papaveraceae

The somewhat ragged foliage of this poppy could easily be mistaken for a weed.

I planted this beauty in one of the most challenging areas of my garden: a small bed tucked between the heat of southern exposure and wooden siding. It is often shorted on water, as we spare the adjacent kitchen counters a sprinkle.  And yet, it is thriving, blooming and dropping seeds, for an abundant patch again next year.

 

Sun. Flowers.

I never tire of these lovely friends.  Faithfully returning, year after year.  Springing up in new places, new shades of yellow, orange, red.

Bright. Happy. Glowing.

Flowers from the sun.

Sun.  Flowers.