The Sunday Garden: June 25, 2023

 

Happy Sunday!

It's a rainy weekend in the Lehigh Valley and we are welcoming it with open arms!  I'm still trying to entertain Sue as she recovers.  It will be a while.  Fortunately, there is always a lot going on in the garden!

Both front and back gardens are all mulched.  Thank you Andy!  He's not only a sweet young man but he keeps telling me I'm paying him too much.  He mulched all the beds in the back in a record 45 minutes.  Oh to be young and strong and in my twenties again!  The mulching couldn't have come at a better time.  We had just gotten rain and it's always best to mulch at that time.  But it's been unusually breezy throughout the season this year.  The mulch is a nice blanket and keeps the garden from drying out too quickly.

On Monday, I was standing in the garden when Andy came over.  "Look!" I pointed to the lace cap hydrangea.  The rain had prompted a huge amount of blooms.  "Wow!" Andy said and we both stood a few moments and stared at the bush.  The blooms were covered in bees, it seemed like hundreds of them; there were honey bees and a variety of bumble bees. The lace cap flowers literally trembled with all the activity.  "That," Andy said.  "Is so AWESOME!"  I love that Andy appreciated the importance of the bees.  I think Andy is pretty awesome.

More things are blooming in the garden.  Including the lilies, cone flowers, shasta daisies and the stella d'oro lilies (complete with a bee).

The Oakleaf Hydrangea is in full bloom and also full of bee activity.  The little honey bees get in so deep that you often can't see them except for the petals moving.

The front yard needs weeding, thinning, and pruning but I'm just letting things go right now.  I don't want to disturb the wildlife there and my hands and knee need a break.  

I think that most of you know that I write my blog posts days ahead of time.  For a few weeks, I've been checking out the garden in the evening when it gets dark.  I've been reading many articles that suggest that fireflies may become endangered.  Pesticides and development of the habitat appear to be a big factor in the declining population.  There are just some things that children should see and appreciate and lightning bugs (as we call them around here) are high on that list.

My husband would ask me after I was out at night:  "See any?"  All too often my answer was "no" and a rare, "just one..."

Last weekend the city celebrated Juneteenth and Saturday night (to our surprise) fireworks were ignited at the stadium.  Our house is nestled on a hill and we always get a good view of the fireworks so my husband and I went out to watch.  I looked down at the garden and grabbed my husband's arm, "LOOK!"  The flower beds were full of lightning bugs, they gleamed and flickered; we stopped counting after 25.  Each flower bed was full.  There didn't appear to be any at my neighbors.

There are times when the hard work and obsession with the garden comes to fruition.  It's a moment of transcendence; suddenly things like the sore hands and knees are meaningless in the big scheme of the world.  The fireflies glimmered unaware of the impact on us.  It was a great show, much better than the fireworks in the sky above.

Have a safe and happy day!