Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ July, 2011

My most favorite summertime chore is deadheading flowers in the cool of the evening.

After dinner, a garden stroll, wielding my trusty scissors... I lop the heads off all the spent blossoms, encouraging them to smile at me all over again.

Around this joint, Columbines rule the roost. 

I just love how they cross-pollinate to deliver fun, new colors each summer.

Do you deadhead your Columbines? I've found the blue ones, in particular, will flower all summer long, if I keep torturing them with the scissors.

Bumble on the Catmint May Night Salvia (Good catch, Kim! :-)

We're receiving more rain this year than ever before. Flowers are jumping for joy. The garden is abuzz with hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

Wild Roses

Mom's wild roses pouted for several years after transplanting. With these ideal gardening conditions, they finally agreed to put down roots and embrace their new surroundings.

Mom's Legendary Day Lilies

Truth be told I'm not a fan of Day Lilies. (Lazy one day bloomers... :) But, I guess there's a legacy aspect to gardening. The Lilies, along with the wild roses and peonies, are transplants from my Mother's garden. Her Peonies are older than me.

Salvia and Yarrow

I prefer a wilder look ~ so it feels as if you're strolling through a meadow untouched by gardener's hands. (And, we all know that meadows are filled with weeds so I can pretend like I planned it that way!)

Maltese Cross

I'm doubly nuts for hot, hot colors like this Maltese Cross.

Wine Cups

But, I guess that's the beauty of gardening, isn't it?

How every yard is a reflection of who we are and ~ through our choices ~ a lovely story to tell.

Pay a visit to Carol of May Dreams Gardens ~ creator of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. From her website, you can stroll through an astonishing number of brightly blooming blogs.