This has been a terribly hot summer with the temps hovering around 100 degrees and the heat index even hotter. It has given the afternoon pictures that "beginning of Fall" look. A dryer, more faded coloration has settled in. We need rain so badly but I still haven't watered as much as usual. It just seems that nothing revives like a good drenching of cool water from the sky! My vegetable garden started off slow and really didn't grow so well but is producing it's head off! I've had an amazing number of cucumbers and it's been a challenge! I don't consider myself a fantastic "pickle maker" but the refrigerator pickles have been wonderful and I finally broke down and purchased more jars and Mrs. Wages! I'll let you know the outcome of those later on. I'm making pepper jelly for the November CARE bake sale and fig and raspberry jam. It's funny how I dread getting out the canning equipment but once I get started I want to do it every day! My okra needs picking constantly and there's nothing much more miserable that sticking your arms into those prickly, scratchy stalks while dripping with sweat and wilting under the merciless sun. Still I do it. Why do I even grow a garden? Mother did to save money, I'm sure. It used to cost nearly nothing to plant a garden. Now it's like everything else, it's a luxury. It's time consuming [which I have None of], it's hot and hard and demanding. Still I do it. It's memories I think. It's tradition. It's just in me to do it. I bend over to slide the ripest tomatoes out from under the vines and think of Mother and being in the garden with her. Always barefoot and playing in the soft cool earth and trying to help but being more of a hindrance, I'm sure. Plus growing your own produce and preserving it gives you a sense of gratification and accomplishment. You feel so green and organic! But enough talking about it--there's okra to pickle and figs to jam and tomatoes to salsa! So later tater!

A Place to Dream

Am I a dreamer? Of course. Who doesn't have dreams and if you don't you should. Dreams are just goals with a more imaginative name. I dream of having a weedless garden. I dream of having more time to enjoy that weedless garden. And you know what? I will. I will have both. Because dreamers have faith in their dreams and I believe dreams can come true. Right now every moment seems taken up with some type of schedule--working, dog duties, family obligations. Do I want to change that? Obviously not! But one of these days time and age will take care of it for me. I won't have the energy to go like I do. Things will change and I may not have the duties I have at the moment. So for now I dream. And every respectable dreamer needs the perfect place to dream, right? I have several! This is one of them, the gazebo in the middle of The Herb Garden. Covered with wisteria, roses, and autumn clematis it is the ultimate place for thoughts that carry you away. It's also a wonderful place to have green tea in a china cup, Bailey's in a mug, or White Barn Lemonade in an iced glass.

Asparagus Rules!

In my family asparagus rules! We all love it. If you popped me open at the moment I would be green. I picked this asparagus March 15th. so there's been more than a month already of the most succulent green stalks you could ask for. Mother had an asparagus bed for years and years. I probably would still have it but that part of the yard has changed, a fence has been added, all sorts of things. I remember she was particularly proud of it as not many around these parts planted asparagus. It has a reputation of being difficult--taking a long time to produce, finicky about it's soil, it has to be kept clean of weeds. Well, that's all true to a point but it doesn't take years to produce if you purchase 2-3 yr.old roots at the beginning. And if you prepare the soil it's easy to weed and add your coffee grounds and egg shells and other yummy composts and it will thrive. I have had plenty to share this year and that's always fun. And although more people grow it now I too am extremely proud of my asparagus bed. Beds. All three of them! [Remember--too much is never enough!]

I Live in Heaven

 This is my front yard. It's Heaven. Really, it is. I know that we are so ready for color and warmer weather after a long cold winter that every year we say, "This Spring was prettier than ever!", but this year it really was, at least at my house. My azaleas have matured, the dogwoods are tall, the shrubs have filled in. So this Spring my front view was simply breathtaking. I'm actually having a tough time squeezing in anything else in the front bed!

 The orange azalea is "Gibralter" purchased from Oak Lawn Garden Center just about ten minutes down the road. Orange has always been my least favorite color. Always. I do like it in nature but would never, ever have thought I would purchase an orange azalea!!! I think I planted nine. We never realize how our tastes will change as we get older! I like that "punch" of color, that "splash" in the middle of all the pinks. It works or at least it works for me and in my yard that's what counts! Oh, how blessed am I!!!

Pink Ruffles. Need I say more? A frothy concoction of shades of pink and an abundance of blooms. It's pure reason on earth is to bring pleasure and oh, how it does! The first azalea I ever planted was a Pink Ruffles. It is in the back and has thrived and is huge. I would like to find a few more true reds, they are a little harder to locate. So that's my next mission.

The Entrance to Mr. McGregor's Garden

This flower bed is in front of my vegetable garden--the entrance so to speak. It has turned into quite a show pony! The dianthus, roses, and irises fill the air with fragrance and the bees sing to you as they bump in and out of the salvia. It's English, rustic, and old fashioned--exactly the look I was after. I wasn't a "Knock-Out" rose fan at first. They don't have a great form as far as that goes. But they smell heavenly, they bloom constantly, and they are low maintenance. I'm thinking they might be great for a back border. Yes, it may be a vegetable garden but by golly I want it to be a pretty one!

New Additions

Arabian Nights and Liaison. It doesn't get much better than these two, as far as I'm concerned! I love the two tones and ruffles. Now that I've gotten quite a few iris established I can see where I need to add or change the color palette. It's an ever changing painting with the early, mid, and late bloomers. But I have my mother's trusty little shovel to help me divide and dig so no venture is too large.

For the Love of Iris

I've told you before that Aunt Lina had lots of irises and lilies. I have quite a few that I dug from her gardens and I love them. I will say, however, that there is no comparison to the new hybrids as far as color and form. The ones above prove that point. Darkest Night, Swingtown, Midnight Madness, and Edith Wolford are a few of my favorites. I can finally see the results of hours of planting, planning, digging and weeding. My iris bed was a truly spectacular sight this year. I felt huge gratification. But really Aunt Lina started the love of iris for me. And although hers aren't the biggest or the brightest they remind me of her and fill my heart with love.