July Fourth

Like a fireworks display, the garden is an explosion of color.

Daylilies are about finished but here are some that bloomed lately.

Hemerocallis ‘Shimmering Orange Fizz’

Hemerocallis ‘Imperial Elegance’

Hemerocallis ‘Bela Lugosi’ is deep, dark, blackish purple.

Desert Rose/Adenium obesum,in the succulent collection, hasn’t bloomed in years. Something triggered it;

and, there you have it, a bud.

I finally planted a Callicarpa dichotoma/purple beautyberry. I thought after the trees were fully leafed

out that it was planted in too much shade, but to my surprise it is budding and I am delighted. The berries

are a distinctive, bright magenta.

Summertime Garden

Oriental lilies are beginning to shine.

A few can make the whole garden fragrant.

Daylilies

and coneflowers

are now joined by white phlox that will bloom till frost.

Mother Nature’s Summertime Garden

Bee Fantasy

Come into my Andy Warholesque world

where practically every coneflower has a bee

or a spangled fritillary reveling in the bounty the flowers afford.

Bathe in the Beauty

It rained during the night and the urns of caladiums are responding profusely to the warmth and rainwater. They were purchased in a box of fifty tubers from Costco. I put half in each urn. I am pleased with their progress. They should double in size by summer’s end.

by dhuting

Bathe in the beauty of Fiji.

Summer Day

On the way home from celebrating Father’s Day today, daughter had to work FD, we stopped and purchased cantaloupes at a road side stand sheltered by multifarious hanging baskets of flowers. We strolled among the flowers and the heady aroma of fruit making our selection. The cantaloupe we had tonight was at the peak of perfection. How do you know your cantaloupe is ready to eat? The skin is yellow with practically no green between the veins and it smells divine. Yummy! It has been really warm here for the past few days and when evening was nigh, the fireflies were flickering against the darkness of the woods.  The garden is full of a steady procession of beauty.  Summer is here and life is languidly good.

I Will Wait For You

in the garden. Sometimes, when we have done all we can, we have to faithfully wait expecting good things to happen.  Just as we expect seed to sprout, flowers to form, and finally fruit that bears regeneration, we confront our daily challenges expecting the best.

A Prayer For Lydia

Sometimes, I go to the garden to pray. My niece has a flesh eating bacterial infection, a severe burn complication, that is not responding to massive doses of antibiotics which is limb threatening even life threatening. Please join me in a prayer for her.

Chapel at Orton Gardens

 

 

A Prayer For Lydia

Oh, God, our Great Physician,
As you surround Lydia with your healing power,
let her be filled with the peace that passes understanding as her body restores itself.
Provide her with those physicians you have blest with knowledge and healing hands for this purpose.
Grant Lydia’s beloved family, who beseech you on her behalf, the desire of their heart,
for they long to rejoice in her wholeness and your glory.

Amen

 

 

More

Donna’s Daylily Garden

Birmingham Botanical Garden

A thunderstorm was threatening when we entered the garden but we made phone photos until driven from the garden by lightning. Enjoy!

 

 

Daylily

Hemerocallis ‘Pardon Me’ given to me by Frances of Fairegarden is the same as the mislabled daylily I have been trying to ID in a previous post.  The color difference is due to photos being made with different cameras with one in the sun and one in the shade. What do you think? 

Update: Finally my plant and the gift plant bloomed at the same time and they are exactly the same. Thanks, Frances.

Hemerocallis ‘Barbara Mitchell /Stout Silver Medal winner 1992

 

Mother Nature’s Garden Daylilies

While in Auburn, Alabama for a wedding this weekend we visited 

the Jule Collins Smith Art Museum

which also had a nice garden

where hydrangeas were blooming.

There were also huge rosemary shrubs,

crepe myrtles flanking the  entrance,

and a nice paved walking trail around the lake.

Our visit to the Birmingham Botanical Garden on the way home will follow later.