Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

"A summer's sun is worth the having." - French Proverb

It's HOT.
Yesterday was hot too.... and the day before. This is when I go looking for reasons to love summer.
I found my two new Daylilies blooming for the first time. We bought them last year but I don't remember the names. The yellow/pink one has ruffles...
...that sparkle in the sun as if each ruffle carried water from the plant and overflowed just a little at the end of the flower.Maybe it is nectar that is oozing out of the edges of the flower. What ever it is, the edges glisten with it.
The other one is like an Orchid and ruffled. I love the color which is outlined at the edges of the flower.
How can there be so many different flowers? How can there be such a variety of amazingly beautiful works of art?
These two Daylilies are protected by a high round of chicken wire. The deer love them and we had the audacity to plant them outside the fence, across the driveway. The deer feasted on them last Fall, when we planted them. until we put up the wire fence. They have eaten the tops off of some other Daylilies near the fence that they never touched before. I guess they are animals of whim.... creatures of "lets see what we can chew on to aggravate Farmlady today."
If the deer are hungry they will eat anything. They have even eaten my Iris when food is scarce elsewhere.
I lost my "Bambi" mentality the first year we moved up here. I planted roses. YEP! We had no fencing at the time. YEP! The roses were doing beautifully and had wonderful buds on them. YES THEY DID!
It was May, I think. One night the Deer came to dine. The next morning all my roses were "pruned" of their flower buds. I sat on the porch and cried. By Fall we had our fence up and they had to go find some other naive, country bumpkin to terrorize.
So the heat has arrived and plants like the Rose of Sharon (or Hibiscus Syriacus) are thriving.
Bursting into flower next to the porch.
As much as I hate to admit it, the heat is what creates this perfection. Only in the passion of Summer's intensity does this loveliness appear. It's a love affair of nature with the sun. The flame of a sun's flare reflected in an exquisite scarlet blush of an adoring and waiting loved one. Plant passion.
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What can I say about Summer?
The evenings are beautiful outside.
The nights are wonderfully cool.
The bee's are flying from one flower to the next in frantic gratitude.
The tomatoes are growing and my mouth waters at the thought of home grown in the salad again.
The hills are brown but there is moisture underneath from the late rain that,hopefully, will reduce the fire hazard.
The goats are happy.
The chickens are eating watermelon rinds.
and .... I love my AIR CONDITIONER.

11 comments:

  1. very poetic post there Farmlady!! It sure looks dry there, I guess that we can all be thankful for those late rains about now. It's warming up here finally and I'm hoping to see my Rose of Sharon blooming soon...take care.

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  2. Oh Connie- you ARE having a heat wave! At least it's not humid like here. And you do get the cooler nights. Your flowers look lovely and I'm glad you have tomatoes in the veggie garden. Aahh yes, the AC is my friend, too! ~ Sue

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  3. yes yes summer...it's grand
    let us enjoy
    Love your lilies
    I still have Bambi mentality

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  4. Happy Summer to you. I can certainly relate to heat in the summer-as well,as the deer who eat all my flowers. :-)

    Velva

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  5. Two words: Liquid Fence. It smells awful as it's a concentration of animal urine and other natural ingredients, but it does keep the deer and other critters away. The odor dissipates for humans shortly after spraying it on, but not for the critters. It works.

    The other two words of great significance: air conditioning. Yes, it is nice.

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  6. ha. this summer i have loved AC as well as the pool...its been so hot....some lovely flowers...

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  7. Connie, I remember walking downtown Jackson on my way home to Broadway and the Temp. on the bank said 117 degrees. I thought it was broken! Nu uh. But boy the peaches on the peach tree sure were good and you are so right about the tomatoes. I've never been able to grow any that come near the ones I grew there.
    xx
    julie

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  8. Your day lillies are beautiful. Love how you describe them.

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  9. Your flowers are beautiful! I understand your sentiment about Bambi...they do a lot of expensive damage around here, too. Last week I heard on the news that the deer population around here has increased to 75 per square mile.....and this is a very busy, people-populated area! I guess we keep them well-fed ;)

    I hope Carl and Cutter are staying cool, too.

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  10. The day lilies are lovely. Mine have bloomed and now are gone. My rose of sharon bushes are blooming quite nicely. It has been hot here also but we have been having afternoon thunderstorms with some rain. Have a blessed day and stay cool. Madeline

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  11. Doug just said this morning that the days are getting shorter already and I said "I'm ready." and he said "for what?" and I said "FALL."
    I call it "the aaaaahhhh of Fall..."

    xo, Cheryl

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