Bugs, Flowers, Landscape, Weather

Now THIS is Summer!

Now THIS is summer…  DSC03811

A real feel good kind of summer…  ???????????????????????????????

When the livin’ is easy, as they say…  ???????????????????????????????

And the gardens are happy.  ???????????????????????????????

When the big summer bloomers settle in for the long haul…  ???????????????????????????????

And the bugs live off the fat of the land,  ???????????????????????????????

Eating to their hearts’ content.  ???????????????????????????????

Yep!  THIS is summer…  DSC05795

When Mary begins to feel overwhelmed….  ???????????????????????????????

While she rejoices in the return of her old tropical pals.???????????????????????????????

It is a time when sunflowers dance in the light…???????????????????????????????

Much to the bees’ delight!???????????????????????????????

It is a time when old enemies become friends…???????????????????????????????

And all the flowers grow together.DSC06194

Yeah buddy, we’re talking SUMMER.DSC04811

JUNGLE CITY!???????????????????????????????

Dappled light in the woods…DSC06067

Bee balm growing up out of itself…???????????????????????????????

And gourds taking over the world.DSC06001

Call me in the fall, I’m having a ball.DSC04734

47 thoughts on “Now THIS is Summer!”

  1. Such a marvellous garden Jim! Loved your meaningful words, and your delightful photos. I DO THANK YOU FOR SHARING THEM 🙂 🙂 🙂

    1. Hi Bethula. I do thank you for reading…. and caring…. and appreciating my photos and words. By the time I write to you it must me midday on Saturday where you are. I hope you are having an excellent day and I hope the rest of the weekend finds you well and happy. 🙂

  2. Great gardens and great stories, Jim! I do not have a garden of my own, so I enjoy seeing yours every time! The mix of the pictures and stories makes me dream of the days when I was a child and I had no worries but to play and dream. So keep up bringing joy with your posts!

    1. Thanks. What a nice thing to say. I do try to bring joy with my posts and I’m really glad you appreciate them. There is something about a thriving, vibrant garden which helps us put our human worries in perspective. Plus, I have rather a passion for the work of the garden, but I bet that is evident in the pictures. Have a great day! 🙂

    1. Me either. Well, OK, we must sleep and feed our families and post to the blog. But other than that…… 🙂

    1. Thanks Amy. Happy bees are a wonderful thing. And boy oh boy are they happy this summer. I think the word is out in the bee community that we have quite the smorgasbord and they have come from all around. 🙂

    1. Oh Jet – You are welcome and thank YOU! I take quite a lot of joy in this garden as well and it is my genuine pleasure to share. 🙂

    1. Thanks Lorrie. Yep, the bees aren’t afraid to dine on the same flower at the same time. They must like each other, as there are plenty of other flowers from which to choose. But it is nice to share dinner, now isn’t it? Cheers. I’m already having a great weekend and I wish you the same. 🙂

  7. You have a wonderful garden and a lot of flowers and they grow up very well, you must have a very good ground or you must bring a lot of water 😉
    Bref, j’aime quand la végétation prend toute la place et qu’elle enchante à ce point !!! Un grand bravo 😉

    1. Thank you Christiane. We have excellent soil, I think. The ‘Stump Garden’ is ground which I believe has never been cultivated by humans prior to a few years ago, given that a huge, old poplar tree shaded the spot since the white pioneers arrived in this area. Very rich soil. ‘Mary’s Garden’ is an old sandbox which is much enriched with compost. Very well drained. The flowers seem to like it quite a lot. As for water, we have been experiencing the most wonderful summer weather with regular rain showers so I have been able to just let the gardens grow with minimal watering assistance. Plus, these are generally pretty tough flowers anyhow. And yes, I like to grow the gardens dense and overwhelm every square foot with lots of vegetation. Cheers. Bonne journee, mon ami. 🙂

  8. Your yard is truly spectacular! It’s a grand place to hang out on a summer’s day….

    1. Yep. An experienced generally enhanced by the consumption of several ‘Meggie specials.’ Cheers, dear sister. 🙂

  9. I love the black-eyed Susans the best. The colors are magnificent. You have captured the flowers well with your photography.

    1. Thank you Sarah. I didn’t show many close-ups of the rudbeckia,in this post but you can see in several other posts that they are quite colorful. I call them Gloriosa Daisy, which I think of as the glorious sister of the Black-eyed Susans. Really the same species. I do try to capture them for what they are, so I really appreciate the comment and compliment. Have a great day. That was some good looking peach jam yesterday, by the way. 🙂

  10. Sun-loving flowers tolerating some shade. intertwining, spreading, shooting seeds. No mulch. do they ever overcrowd wonders a person afraid to put too many in at once..

    1. Now what would ever give you the impression that my flowers might be overcrowded? Oh, I get it. The severe overcrowding that is evident in the pictures. Well, you know, I always say “may the best plant win!” So yes, I do allow them to grow densely. Just how I like it. Plus, I grow most of what you see from seed and I figure they just do what they do. The rudbeckia actually seems to prefer to grow densely. Some plants, like Bee Balm, I work with to make sure they have plenty of air, lest they grow mildew on their leaves. And as for mulch, I actually use a lot of mulch in the gardens. Several trailer loads each summer, always wood chips from the local yard waste site which I get for free. I just don’t need to use much of it where the flowers are so dense. Thanks for reading. 🙂

    1. Thanks. That’s a nice compliment. I was trying to show some of that majesty in this post, so I’m thrilled you noticed it. The gloriosa daisy is mighty proud of its majestic swath right about now. Cheers. 🙂

    1. Thanks. The natural looking areas are grown from seed purchased from your next-door neighbors at the Vermont Wildflower farm. They have great seed and some wonderful mixes. Full of summer colors! Cheers.

  13. Jim, my blogger friend:
    What a stunningly beautiful place you have.
    It is a true beauty.
    What a garden!!

    Yippee and hooray!
    And congratulations too.

    1. I really appreciate that, Cynthia. Yippee and hooray indeed! Tell your husband that there is actually a bit to eat hidden in there, but I am a man of priorities and the flowers are front and center. Well, that, and next year I am going to grow a more purposeful and dedicated vegetable garden, as inspired by him and several bloggers of whose dinner I am wildly jealous. Oh yeah, and tell him that you need to get back to flowers now, as you are a lady of priorities. Cheers. 🙂

      1. so right, Jim — I’ve made amends and gone on and on about herbs and veggies – it’s back to floral priorities for me!

        Glad to hear you will start a vegetable garden, though. Just don’t switch to the other side, okay? I love your splendid flower garden.

    1. Thanks Julie. I am glad you love my wonderful place. 🙂 That’s an awesome compliment from a lady with one of the most wonderful places I’ve seen. Happy gardening for me and happy gardening for you. 🙂

    1. Thanks Grower. Oh, wait. You were talking about the gardens, not me. Well, thanks for that too. 🙂

  16. Ahh, the temperature just dropped 10 degrees where I live just by viewing you beautiful summer garden. 🙂 Sharon

    1. Now that’s power blogging! 🙂 Actually, though, you are onto something. I have long detected that if I leave the concretey/ashphalty center of town and come out to our place, nestled amidst many trees, the temperature does feel 10 degrees cooler. Plus, there are more butterflies here! Thanks for the fine comment, Sharon. 🙂

  17. Absolutely love the sunflowers. I am hoping that next year I can section off another part of our yard and put in a whole section just for them. Hubby loves to eat the seeds, and I just love to look at them. Your garden is all so beautiful and so inspiring.

    1. Hi Tillly. Thanks a lot. I have the strongest feeling that your yard is going to consist of all gardens and no grass in the near future. Full of good things to eat and some fun flowers to observe. Cheers. 🙂

  18. wow what an incredible garden. you’re so lucky. I love the cone flowers and other yellow wildflowers. enjoy.

    1. Thank you very much. It’s amazing what some good soil and a handful of wildflower seeds will do. That, and a keen fascination with the fine art of pulling weeds. Have a great day. 🙂

  19. Very nice. I do miss having water to do this type of garden (we lived in Michigan for many years).

    Right now I’m happy with more modest efforts even as I enjoy your efforts. Your garden looks like a photographer’s smorgasborg. Thanks for the visual treat.

    P.S. I’m commenting using Twitter because I block third party cookies, and WP sites with dedicated domain names won’t let me comment unless I allow third party cookies. Not bitching; just mentioning it because coming in through Twitter I can’t subscribe to the comments, so I won’t see your response unless I remember to check in a few days or so.

    1. Thanks and you are welcome. We have good soil and this year we have had plenty of rain. Lots of opportunities for capturing pictures. I’m new to that art, but have been enjoying it very much. I really like how the light plays in the garden, changing through the day. 🙂

    1. Thank you. Yes, we have the summertime feel going on quite nicely. It feels great after the harrowing winter. I love your garden and now that I have discovered your blog, look forward to seeing what you share. Cheers.

  21. Such a nice, cheerful and colorful summer story! 🙂 The garden is fabulous, I would be very happy to have a house with a beautiful garden like yours!

    1. Thanks. It is a very nice place to live. It was quite overgrown when we moved here, but we have brought in plenty of sunshine and now the flowers love it. Me too.

    1. Thank you. Yes, in certain ways it is our own little paradise. We have a wonderful property and the blog provides a fine way to share it. It’s always more fun to share. 🙂

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