My own personal Bloom Day

I missed Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day (June 15) and also Bloomsday (June 16) this month because I was on the road, and so I am declaring this day, June 20, the last day of spring, as my own very personal June Bloom Day.

June is a month that is full of blooms in my garden, so let's get right to it.

Daylilies like this one might be considered the backbone of my late spring garden and there are many in bloom this month. Here are a few more of them.

The pretty little alstromeria also is beginning its bloom this month.

Next to the little goldfish pond with its water lilies in bloom, the Pepto Bismol pink flamingos guard their domain.

Along the back fence, the trumpet vines lift their blossoms.

June is a big month for the roses. Here is 'Molineux' - which obviously needs to be deadheaded!

'Belinda's Dream' after an afternoon shower.

'Darcy Bussell' was moved in early spring and pouted for several weeks, but finally she seems to have settled in and is beginning to bloom.

'Litchfield Angel'

The pomegranate is flowering.

Several of the lantanas around the garden are full of color now. Here, yellow.

'Dallas Red'

The purple trailing lantana is always a favorite with butterflies.

As is the almond verbena. Its scent is heavenly!

Feverfew also is a favorite with pollinators. Note the colorful little fly on the left.

Among the wildflowers, the blanket flowers are still colorful.

So are the prairie coneflowers.

Esperanza is beginning its summer into fall blooming period. Here is the mahogany variety.

And here is the traditional yellow.

The mixed gazania daisies by the patio continue to brighten their space.

The yellow cestrum was late to get going this year, but now it is in full swing.

This hybrid purple datura that I started from seed last year is doing well, in spite of the fact that insects really like it, as you can gather from the holes in the leaves and the blossom.

The first of the brugmansias - angel trumpet - to bloom was this one that I also started from seed last year.

My old angel trumpet that I've had for many years has now joined the bloom parade.

'Montrose Purple' vitex

American beautyberry has a rather insignificant blossom, but the berries in the autumn are real eyecatchers for as long as they last before being devoured by the birds and other critters.

Blue plumbago is one of my favorite and most dependable summer bloomers.

My variegated abelia likes its new spot under the old magnolia tree and is rewarding me with lots of flowers.

Old-fashioned 4 o'clocks - Mirabilis jalapa.

Summer phlox, another old-fashioned favorite.

Wedelia is a rambunctious ground cover that also offers pretty little daisy-like flowers.

Wax begonias are personal favorites. I like to use them in various spots around the garden for summer color because they are so trouble-free and dependable. Here they live in a pot on the patio table.

Crocosmia.

Echinacea.

The swamp hibiscus which is called 'Texas Star' (at least in Texas!) is in bloom. It also comes in a white variety which hasn't started blooming yet. These plants live by my little pond and they bloom all through the summer and into the fall.

It's been an interesting spring. It started out dry, but recently we have started having regular rains. We can only hope that they continue into the summer, but if I had to predict, I'd say the chances are not good. Nevertheless, we enjoy and appreciate the showers while they last.

Happy summer to you all - or, in the case of my readers in the southern hemisphere, happy winter! Whatever season prevails where you are, I hope it is good to you and your garden.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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