Sass

South Shore, Lake Superior

Oldie But Goodie...

circa 1990

Here lately all I've been blogging about is my garden. 

For a change of pace, 

here's a 

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Golden Trumpet

What is more boisterously joyous 

than a zucchini blossom? 

And they're edible too!

Pollinator

Check out the pollen this bee is getting from my Rose of Sharon bush!

Summer!

"Soleil Rouge" 2'x2' mixed media

Enjoy your Summer Solstice!

By the Shores of Gitche Gumee

Happy Flag Day

 

Avenue of the Flags, Jacksonville Community Park, Illinois

If you see one of these today (and you live in the U.S.), I hope you'll pause for a moment with a salute or a prayer or a meditation on the flag: what it is, what it means, and what it would be like if it no longer flew over our fair country.

LONG

MAY

SHE

WAVE!

More Garden Delights

I sure hope all of my fans aren't 

getting sick of looking at my garden produce. 

This is our best garden in 25 years, 

even though we're gripped in a relentless drought.

Unwelcome Relatives

 Once upon a time, years and years ago, 

I bought a single small pot of striped zebra grass 

(I guess that's what you call it).  

Nobody told me beware!  

This stuff is invasive and 

will spread all over the flower bed 

via underground rhizomes.  

So now, not only is it too expansive 

(when I thought it would make 

a great backgound planting), 

but each year, the middle of it 

expands with a mutation or something. 

Looks like the same grass, 

but instead of being striped and about 4 feet tall, 

these renegade plants are all green and over 5 feet tall. 

Someday, I'm going to attempt 

to dig out the bad stuff and plant it 

along the edge of the woods 

where it can grow 

to it's heart's content.

Someday...

Eye Candy Grows in My Garden

Give me odorous at sunrise
 a garden of beautiful flowers
 where I can walk undisturbed.  
~Walt Whitman

Alas, the Cherries...

Alas the cherries! This is a photo of last year's beauties.  But this spring, for the first time in the 24 years we've lived here, birds ate every one of them. Just when we noticed they were ripening, and suddenly, POOF! They're gone! Do they eat the green ones too? This is too strange. There've always been plenty of cherries to share with the birds. And those trees were loaded with blossoms earlier and never got frosted. Another of CC's Nature Mysteries.

The Shy One

Another little visitor to the garden.

I love the markings on its shell. 

Sort of like ancient runes or mysterious writing.

Wonder what it says!

 

My dog, Beary, found this little box turtle fascinating

 and kept flipping him over on his back. 

That's not a neighborly thing to do...bad dog!

Party!

I don't know what these insects are called, 

but they only seem to bother these yellow flowers. 

Come to think of it, 

I don't know the name of the flowers either, 

but they've been growing in our flower bed at  least 20 years. 

Time to do some research!

First Red Tomato of the Season

It's a good thing we picked it last night. 

Something took a big bite out of the green one below!