Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) has begun to bloom, a sign I interpret as the point where we begin to slide from mid-summer towards autumn. The seasonal cycles continue unabated, ‘time and tide wait for no man’ or woman, for that matter. Bittersweet as it is, I must accept it. Thankfully, there are yet many weeks of glorious summer weather ahead of us to enjoy.
As the title suggests, I’ve made my arrangement this week mostly of native plants. Soft-pink Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum) has been blooming for a week or two, another great late-season pollinator plant, along with Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus), all greedily visited by bees and butterflies. American Goldfinches have already started plucking seeds from the latter two, their cheerful twittering filling the air.
The only non-native are Hosta blossoms added to provide a bit of contrasting purple color.
Sweet peas
For the past month, I have enjoyed huge bouquets of Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus) brought into the house, the heady perfume nearly making me swoon. I’ve been religious about cutting all the blooms from the vines in order to promote further flower production and it has been most effective. The heat and lack of good rain seems to be having its effect in slowing them down, so I expect there won’t be many more vases. It has been a good run, so I share today’s pickings with you here. I only wish I could add a ‘Scratch and Sniff’ to the post!
I’m joining other gardeners from around the world, sharing arrangements from their gardens, at Rambling in the Garden‘s In A Vase on Monday.
It has been six years since I started this blog and in reflecting back over that time, life has brought many changes, including my reasons for blogging.
Initially, I thought I’d blog about gardening and nature. I envisioned my posts being informative about different plants, sharing my gardens and walks around the land I call home. Of course, I soon learned that social media is a two-way street and at least half of blogging is meeting and following other bloggers that share similar interests.
I wouldn’t call it digital addiction, but it is close. Occasionally, I thought of taking the site down, but then one of you would comment about how much you loved my posts and I would recommit myself. It’s one thing to spend a snowy or rainy day blogging, but when other areas of my life demanded my attention, I felt torn. Does anyone else feel this way?
Ideally, I would like to head back to posting more and reading less, but I wonder if I could realistically do it? I would love to hear how you handle this in your own blogging.
Lastly, I’d like to hear how you feel about my current content– what works, what doesn’t and what you would like to see more of in terms of photos, writing and subjects. I know your time is precious, so I sincerely appreciate you following me, your likes and especially your comments. You’re amazing!
We’ve really been enjoying our large, main garden this summer. We eat our meals on the deck that overlooks it, so we get plenty of time to appreciate its beauty. The left side is mostly annuals and the right is largely perennial.
The garden is blooming profusely with all the heat and rain we’ve had in the past week. The Astilbe chinensis var. taquettii are peaking and the Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are abundant. The Zinnias (Z. elegans ‘Cactus’) are starting to bloom and are being visited by lots of butterflies, including Monarchs, which I love seeing. Their numbers seem to be increasing slightly from their near-absence in previous years.
My second vase features yellow, red and orange Cosmos (C. sulphureus), lavender-tinged Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus), white Nicotiana, blue Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro) and Mealycup Sage (Salvia farinacea).
White ‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea provides the basis of this week’s In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy at 
While Annebelle’s large flower clusters average a foot across and don’t fit easily into most vases, I was inspired to use a few smaller heads as an anchor for orange Daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) and cheery Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta). A few airy, grass-seed heads were added for vertical accent.
My Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus) and Lettuce-leaf Poppies (Papaver somniferum) have been blooming their heads off this past week and it’s heavenly to bring a vase into the house where delightfully, it perfumes an entire room.
Eliza Waters 