Fun With Flowers

While the kids were here for two weeks, my garden had to fend for itself. Thank goodness for the watering system, which kept it alive during our heat wave!

Now the kids are gone and I am having fun with the flowers growing in the garden. I have spent much of the last two days dead heading, trimming and sometimes slashing away at spent blooms and tired foliage to refresh the garden. I have also gathered mounds of flowers for the house.

This bouquet is made up of zinnias and marigolds.

Dahlias are so colorful and easy to arrange.

This little bouquet is on my refrigerator in a magnet vase. With so many flowers, I can be extravagant. This is on the kitchen counter.

I also have several lily blooms in the house. They came on fast in the hot weather, and will be gone all too soon.

The summer border. Roses are setting buds for another flush of blooms.

The patio pots hold interesting plants to appreciate up close.

The back border is in shade, and glows with shades of green.

This clematis blooms forever.

Butterfly bush is so fragrant. I love to have a few blooms in the house, but they fade much too quickly.

No butterflies today, but the bumble bees were enjoying the nectar.

The vegetable garden is still producing zucchini, cucumbers, beans, carrots, beets and chard. The sweet peas suffered from the heat and neglect, but other annuals decorate the garden boxes and supply cut flowers.

The dahlia bed.

We have been having cool weather and showers this week, which has been a pleasant change for us Seattlites. The blooms glisten with captured rain drops.

The zinnias are reaching for the sky!

At the front of the house Tom has his collection of fancy leafed geraniums, which are lush in high summer.

At the side of the house, the tomatoes are coming along. We have had only one ripe one so far, surprising with all of the heat.

With the work done now for a while, I intend to sit back and enjoy my little flowery corner of the world.