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“Where flowers bloom so does hope.”
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Lady Bird Johnson
Butterflies drift on the summer breeze from flower to flower in search of nectar; I find an earthbound path of my own, camera in hand, to drink in their beauty.
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August finds our garden filled with flowers. Some, like the roses, struggle with this late summer heat to pump out a few small flowers here and there. But others, like our spider lily are just getting started with their annual show. Our fall flowers have begun to fill the garden with fierce, stubborn color.
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Lycoris radiata, or Red Spider Lily, blooms in late summer.
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“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
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Claude Monet
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Basil attracts many pollinators
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Butterflies have their favorites, just as I have mine. Lantana flowers always draw butterflies, and hummingbirds sometimes, too. Many of the flowers in our garden are selected especially for their appeal to butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and interesting nectar-loving insects.
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Our Cannas and Salvias delight the hummingbirds. But I plant many herbs, and let them flower, for the nectar they provide. They may not be the showiest of flowers, but they are good for the wildlife we hope to attract.
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When allowed to bloom, Coleus provides abundant nectar and attracts many pollinators.
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“If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it,
it’s your world for a moment.”
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Georgia O’Keeffe
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Begonia ‘Flamingo’
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Some of the Begonias, too, have finally covered themselves in flowers. Simple and delicate, Begonia flowers come only when the mother plant is happy. Ours have finally recovered from their winter indoors with vigorous new growth.
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We grow several different sorts of Begonias, each with its own unique leaf and flower.
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They all grow in pots or baskets so we can keep them from one year to the next, and most root very easily from stem cuttings.
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It is good to cut back the cane Begonias, especially, as the stems will grow many feet long. Prunings go into a vase of water to soon begin life again in a new pot either in our garden, or as a gift to a friend.
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Also a Begonia, this one grows from a tuber and produces flowers like tiny roses. Oxalis blooms beside it.
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“It is only by selection, by elimination,
and by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things.”
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Georgia O’Keeffe
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Begonia ‘Richmondensis’ with Caladium
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Late summer brings its own ‘woody’ flowers, too. Rose of Sharon, butterfly bush, Crepe Myrtle, and Hydrangea all cover themselves in flowers each August.
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So does a very odd plant, Aralia spinosa, also known as ‘The Devil’s Walking Stick’ for its exceptionally thorny stem.
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Aralia spinosa in bloom
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This small tree crowns itself with a cloud of tiny, greenish-yellow flowers which soon swell into a cloud of dark inky purple berries. Another plant to delight wildlife, this one is not so delightful in the garden. It spreads by seeds and underground runners.
But my gardening philosophy tends towards, ‘The more, the merrier!’ It is a very laissez-faire approach, admittedly. But it serves us well, in this forest garden.
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Echinacea ‘Green Jewel’
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“A flower blossoms for its own joy.”
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Oscar Wilde
Many thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on the 15th of each month. When last I looked, Carol had nearly 50 other gardeners sharing links to their posts this August. Just looking through these virtual garden tours is a fun way to see what others are doing and to find fresh inspiration.
I hope you will visit Carol’s post, and as many of the other links as time allows.
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If ‘A flower blossoms for its own joy,’ we photograph and admire them for our own.
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I have created a series of flower portraits this summer, simply called ‘Blossom.’ This simple posting format has brought me a great deal of joy and comfort over the last few weeks. It has allowed me to post when no words would come.
Flowers, no matter their size or color, delight. Perhaps it is their very fragility which begs us to appreciate them in the moment. If we procrastinate, they may be gone.
Certainly, they each have their season, as do we.
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Two dear members of our family have passed from this Earthly life over the past few weeks. We still miss them keenly. Their passing has reminded each of us who loved them to share our love, our joy, and our appreciation with those we care for, as often as we can.
We can not afford to put off to tomorrow that which we may enjoy today. Our lives prove as ephemeral as the flowers which fascinate us.
We are all creatures in time, and so must make the time to share the beauty and wonders of this life; and to share it with those we love.
Woodland Gnome 2016
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In Loving Memory of
Rachel Mae Downs-Lewis 1975-2016
In Loving Memory of
Patty Jo “Tinker’ Rishworth 1961-2016
Forest Garden 