The Aroma

The morning air of late has been just right for the putrid stench of Voodoo to emanate from the parking lot and infuse the garden. That aroma has been starting off my day. The sweet smell of 'Lemon Drop' azalea is no more.

The meadows are popping with all kinds of flowers, far more than I can show. The chicory is still going strong.

Purple Coneflowers and Black-Eyed-Susan are opening abundantly to summer bloom.

The hill side of Gooseneck Loosestrife does its thing.

Spikes of purple liatris are all over the meadows. I am surrounded by flowers in a garden lurking with all manner of wild things. I do believe it was a bear that opened the door and got inside my truck last week. The muddy paw prints were quite large. Voodoo.

Baby Voodoo

This is the absolute latest rising of the Voodoo Lilies that I can recall. It seems they would be fully leafed out around the end of June in the past. I could go back in time on the blog and find out. The worldwide record heat wave is slow to reach the mountain top thank you very much.

I can't help myself. I made a tray of baby voodoo. They hang on the front porch for the summer with the house plants I am not supposed to have. I can't help myself. Plants just multiply around me.

I felt pretty sick all week after the last chemo. Other than going for a new CT scan, I did not get much past the front porch all week. Good thing I have some pretty on the front porch to meditate on. The oncology nurse said that the chemo gets progressively worse when I called to whine about the troubles I was having. One more to go.

The sick lifted on Friday after I got myself fully re-hydrated. I wandered down to the basement patio for a closer look at the summer meadow with ever more weed flowers in bloom.

The garden misses me. Its fate after my passing is written in the editing and maintenance I don't have the energy or flexibility to do right now. After all these years of tinkering, the meadows are having a very good bloom year without me. I just want it to look nice for the party when my ashes are spread.

On the edge of life and death, I watch the garden grow and endure. If I was a rich man, I would hire myself a real gardener, such a nice thing to have. But I am a contented peasant gardener who has lived his whole life outside.

A Short Walk In The Garden

I missed a few Bloom Day posts because........ This mostly green stroll through the garden is strewn with flowers if you look close enough. It will have to do for my return to this month's Bloom Day offering. The flowers were not my focus on this walk in the garden. I was trying to capture the mood.

I'm running into another photo storage filing error limit it seems. I never did anything about the last one. The picture taking system for the blog could crash at any time. I have too many pictures to store and not enough perky brain power to want to deal with the technology fix. So, I procrastinate.

I had chemo yesterday. Today I need a nap. So, I will leave you here to go for a short walk through the summer garden on your own. Click on a picture for the slide show. At the end is a nice picture of the Bottlebrush Buckeye and 'Lemon Drop' Azalea in full bloom.

Some Flowers In The Garden

It would be a shame not to show you some fetching pictures of the chicory with Miscanthus 'Morning Light'.  

It is hard not to smile looking at such a pretty sky blue fallen to the ground.

The Bottlebrush Buckeye is now showing.

And the 'Lemon Drop' azalea perfumes the air.

In The Summer Sunshine

Hundreds and hundreds of daylilies are blooming across the mountain top in the summer warmth and sunshine. This is Bulbarella's doing. I just got caught in the expansion.

Daylilies like to expand on their own and pop up in all kinds of places in all kinds of daylily colors.

The roadside vegetable garden is surrounded by a riot of summer bloom.

The Hydrangea 'Haas Halo' has turned white to full bloom. Today it was covered in some kind wild bees.

As I wander slowly, gingerly, through a wild garden learning how to breathe once more.

VFYFP

The view from your front porch. In much better focus.

Where I can see the varmints coming from my bird's eye view from above. I never tire of the view as it constantly changes and interacts with the seasons.

The Vibration Of The Bear

I had one fleeting chance to get a picture and this is what I got. Somehow it speaks to my chemo state of mind. I like the landscape painting quality found in the vibration. Click for a bigger picture.

On Chicory Mornings