I’ve been more focused on my flowers and my tomato plants this summer than my writing. It’s not lollygagging, though. I do a lot of writing in my head and planning while I’m watering and pulling weeds.
Yesterday, I was standing idly by my garden boxes, watering the tomatoes, when a new visitor showed up — the first tiger swallowtail I’d seen in my yard ever. Planting new flowers has brought new benefits. Of course, I didn’t have a camera with me. I did a little online search and found the exact butterfly I saw. Interestingly enough, the photo shows the creature on a yellow-orange day lily (I think they’re Stella d’Oro), which is exactly what my tiny guest was enjoying in my garden.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-and-white-butterfly-perch-on-yellow-petaled-flower-67811/
I have a few other pretties to show you as well. This floribunda rose is called Doris Day, which I thought fitting in memory of one of my all-time favorite singers. She was an awesome actress as well. Have you seen Calamity Jane? Or Love Me or Leave Me? She could do comedy, romance, and drama equally well.
This lily came up on its own this year and I don’t remember buying or planting it last year. I know memory goes fast as we age, but you’d think I’d recall buying a flower this dramatic. When viewed with the naked eye, it’s pure orange. But when I tried to photograph it in the sun, the center of all the petals were yellow. I had to shade the flower to get even this much orange.
Other Stuff
I’m a monthly contributor to the Blood-Red Pencil Blog. My most recent posts there include:
May: The Writer’s Conundrum: How Much Online Time is Too Much?
June: A National Month (or Twelve) Just for Me
My blog is now open for guest bloggers. Colorado mystery author Jodi Burnett will be here on Wednesday, July 24th, with an excerpt from her new release, Hidden in the Hills.
And finally, this is my gardening assistant, Sassy. Her nose is always right in the spot I’m digging or pulling weeds. I think she likes the fresh earth smell.
Thanks for the tour of your beautiful garden, Pat! Sassy is adorable! Happy summer! –Janet
Hi Janet! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’re having a happy summer too.
Time in a garden is always time well spent, as your lovely pictures show.
Thanks, Liz. We’re heading in to a week of very hot temperatures and very little rain, so I’ll be doing my watering and weeding early. Watching the flowers and butterflies sure get a day off to a good start.
Love the flower pics! And what a great photo of Sassy! I bet she loves being out in the garden, “helping.”. Maybe she can help you plan and plot stories, too. 🙂
Madeline, I do keep thinking about putting Sassy in a story or two. As an assistant, though, she consider her responsibility is to get me out of my chair as often as possible. 😀
Those Tiger Lilies grow wild by the side of my back country roads. I’d love to have them sprout up on their own in my yard.
We get yellow Swallowtails now and then, but the black ones are more prevalent.
A neighbor gave me a couple of small clumps, Diane, and they spread in my one garden box like crazy. I’m thinking of putting them along one side of the house and just letting them go. If the butterflies like them, they must be good.
Now you know what to plant to attract more of those butterflies.
So true, Alex. I still would like to get a couple of those butterfly bushes though. And bring back the lavender, but this time not so close to my front door because the bees love it.
Your garden looks gorgeous, Pat. And I know just what you mean about planning your writing, etc., when you’re doing something else. Agatha Christie is said to have commented that the best time to plan a novel is when you’re doing the dishes. I’m glad you’ve had some visitors to your garden, too – so beautiful! And I see you have a cute sassy 😉 assistant, too. That’s the way to do summer!
Margot, now that I’m shifting more to flowers and away from vegetables, I’m enjoying it more. I still have my tomato plants, plus one box with lettuce, spinach, and carrots (although the greens are already finished for the season), but everything else is all about color and attracting bees and butterflies.