I took a quick jaunt around the property this evening to see what was newly in bloom and here is what I found.
Yuccas and a blue hosta.
My hollyhocks are in full swing now.
Pink oriental lilies.
And a second round of blooms on my new dianthus.
Summer is a profusion of new gems in the form of flowers. Each bud opens and reveals the magic inside in its own time.
Earlier this season, I shared that hollyhocks are biennials. Flowers that don’t bloom until the second year. And that I didn’t know what color this one was. It was the lone survivor from a pack of seeds that were for multiple colors.
Well, it turns out that it is pink! Pastel pink with darker centers. The blooms are opening up on the stalks more each day. I have planted three more this year that I raised from seed. And I have no idea what color any of them will be either!
Dahlia
Mandevilla
These are the yellow flowers currently blooming in our garden. I am not generally a big fan of the color yellow but I must admit, these flowers are spectacular.
I spent several hours working on various things and then the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the patio. Everyone needs a place of refuge to recharge. Even if it’s sitting on your bed with a good book or listening to music.
All the more so in these trying times. It’s important to take time for yourself. Be kind to yourself, regain your calm and inner peace. This will help you be kind to others. And the world needs all the kindness it can get.
June is peak rose month. I went to the patio garden to read for a bit before dinner this evening. This was my view.
Bliss!
This is a hollyhock that I have grown from seed. I started six of them indoors last spring. This is the lone survivor. When they reached a few inches in height, I transplanted them to my flowerbeds. This one in the rose bed will bloom soon.
Hollyhocks are biennials. They don’t bloom until their second year. So I am eagerly waiting to find out what color it is since I planted a packet of mixed colors. I check every day now for any hint of color.
I started several more hollyhocks from seed this year. Although they do reseed themselves, you have to plant them for two successive years to have blooms every year. I am keeping this year’s seedlings in pots until they are bigger in the hope of having a higher survival rate.
The anticipation is real!
Zekie holding a stay in front of the irises
Zekie staying by the wygelia
We walked around the yard this afternoon checking out various plants. As Zekie walked by some of them, I thought what a beautiful photo that would make. So, I told Zekie to sit, and then to stay.
He is familiar with this process now. I can saw his name to get him to look at the camera and he continues to hold his stay. He waits for a release command which could be in the form of:
These are just commands as I use them. Unless you are competing, it really doesn’t matter the words you use as long as you are consistent and can communicate with your dog to get the results you want.
With most dogs, keeping commands short, one or two words is best. This is what I do for all our dogs. Zekie is very communicative and seems to be able to comprehend sentences at other times though. Such as, “be quiet or you’re going in your crate”. (“Be quiet” when used by itself is less effective.) “Where is daddy?” “Go get your bone.” “I’ll be right back.” He responds appropriately to all of these sentences.
An intelligent mind can be both a blessing and a curse in a dog. They spend lots of time thinking. It is up to us to channel those thoughts in a direction that we find appropriate. Otherwise, the dog will channel them as he deems appropriate, and we may not agree!
I spent several hours today weeding and mulching my peony and iris bed. Hubby tried to weedeat it for me, but the plants are just too close together. It caused too much destruction. So I am weeding by hand.
I will finish tomorrow. I was driven inside mid-afternoon by the large amount of fly bites I was getting, along with the biting gnats and bees, it was too much for me. Even though I had to take an antihistamine to deal with the various bug bites, I must say the flowerbed is looking good.
The bed also contains false indigo, hardy amaryllis, and a young red maple. I don’t know how I ever had time to work. Retirement is exhausting!
The peonies in this bed should bloom soon and I will post pictures when they do. I want to start posting more pictures on my Sanctuary Acres Facebook page, so you may want to follow that as well. I promise there will be no political posts on that page. Maybe an occasional spay/neuter comment. Mostly it will be photos of our flowers, gardens and animals.
My plan this morning was to spend it mulching flowerbeds. I went outside and found my husband sorting wood left from past carpentry projects. I took off my gardening gloves and stopped to help him, so it would get finished before the rain came. I didn’t want to get the mulch smell on the wood. We finished some of the work in the rain. Looked for my gardening gloves but couldn’t find them.
Since it was raining I went inside until things dried out. I decided to work on some financial records for our dog rescue for the rest of the morning. Next thing I knew, it was lunch time. Looked for my gardening gloves again. I have another pair but didn’t want both pairs to smell like mulch. Couldn’t find them. Ate lunch. Looked for my gardening gloves. No luck.
Got out new gardening gloves and helped husband mulch the rest of the flowerbeds in the patio area. Still no gardening gloves, but the beds are looking great.
Then, we checked on the vegetable garden. This resulted in hubby and me weeding the row of beets, radishes, and turnips. A gardener’s work is never done, especially in the spring time.
Weed free plants with blooms do not come easy or free. It is, however, a labor of love for us.
Never did find those gloves.
This morning, I took time to enjoy a cup of coffee and some patio time with the dogs. I soaked in the beauty of the flowers and greenery. The dogs enjoyed it too. Zekie found the plastic whale from the top of the old pool thermometer and thought it made a fine toy. He followed me around and put the whale at my feet, then snatched it away, saying “see what I have!”
After a lunch of homemade pizza, I put the dogs out in the fenced pasture to play and enjoy the sunshine. Then it was work time for me. I pruned the old fashioned lilac that grows beside the kitchen window. The original lilac died. The one that is there now was moved here as a young rootling. It came from grandma’s house in town. It is old enough to have some dead branches so I gave it a good trim.
I also pruned the ancient scarlett azalea outside the living room window. It has a beautiful color. I have not seen another in this shade of red-orange-peach. The base of the bush is enormous and gnarly giving it an ancient feel. The house was built in 1830 so I have no idea how old the azalea is. I didn’t trim the bush back nearly as far as I felt it should be. Parts of it are not in the best of health and I didn’t think it would survive a drastic trimming. I hope this makes it stronger next year, then I can prune it again.
Then I moved on to more mundane chores. I pulled the dried out vines from last year’s morning glories off the fence, picked up grass clumps from the weed eater, and weeded around newly sprouted plants in the vegetable garden.
All the prunings and weeds, I took to the pile at the back of our woods where we dump such things. Eventually we get some nice compost at the bottom of the pile. The walk through the woods is always interesting. Halfway back on the left is our pet cemetery. It elicits memories each time I pass. The neighbor’s yellow marsh irises are visible around her pond. There are always plants of interest to notice along the way. Jack-in-the-pulpits. Solomon’s seal. It is a pleasant walk if your load is not too heavy.
After the work was done, I took three of the dogs for a walk to the township park and back. Zekie was a good boy. He only barked at one car, even though 7 or 8 cars passed us. We crossed to the other side of the road when we passed a house with two dogs behind a slat fence. Zekie looked at them but didn’t bark! I was so proud.
This is a typical day for me as a retired person living in the country.
We have three types of lilacs. All have that wonderful lilac scent. The benefit of having multiple types is that they bloom at different times, so lilac season lasts about a month for us. This is indeed a wonderful thing.
Certain scents can make your mind retrieve memories from long ago. When I smell lilacs, it reminds me of a perfume my mother had that she purchased from a local drug store many years ago. It smelled like lilacs, not like some perfumey replica. I remember picking it up from my mother’s vanity.
The scent of lilacs can make me feel like a carefree little girl. Some scents can unlock the magic.
Sanctuary Acres 