We are having a very lovely month with sunny warmth and windless days.
There are many flowers still blooming away and not showing any signs yet of slowing down.
Lots of sunflowers are still fresh and vibrant in their daily sun-follow.
This frilly rose could have easily been a spring bud, but it decided to wait.
Although it’s late for peonies, their heady scent and massive blooms are still lingering in some gardens, depending on their cultivar.
Happy Sunday.
I like to walk to the Penticton rose garden to sit and admire it (and sometimes to take photos).
Right now, it seems to be at its height of loveliness.
It’s a very calming, very serene spot to just enjoy sitting outside.
Happy Thursday.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
~ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
[We have] our memories so that we might have roses in December.
~ J.M. Barrie
Of all the flowers, methinks a rose is best.
~ Fletcher and Shakespeare, Two Noble Kinsmen
We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.
~ Alphonse Karr, Lettres Écrites De Mon Jardin
Happy Monday.
These late summer roses remind me of ice cream.
So pretty and summery; they look like my favourite seasonal treat.
Happy Sunday.,
I found a group of sunflowers growing seemingly of their own accord among a gaggle of unkempt roses and weeds.
The plants themselves were leaning badly but were still interesting to pollinators (and flower photographers).
Sunflowers are such iconic representatives of autumn with their lovely sunny faces.
Happy sunflower Wednesday.
Penticton’s lovely little Japanese garden isn’t showing yet many signs of autumn, but there’s something about the fading of the colours that are signalling it.
The trees on the adjacent path also seem to be indicating the same.
But right now, the weather is wonderful and there’s no forest fire smoke, so I plan to enjoy it as much as possible.
Happy Tuesday.
Tis the season for panicle hydrangeas; they tend to bloom in late summer and well into autumn.
The word “panicle” means “loose cluster,” which I think is an appropriate description for these pretty flowers.
Usually, panicle hydrangeas grow to about 2-3 metres (8 ft) and the blooms will turn some shade of pink or light red. They are the hardiest hydrangeas and will tolerate extremes of heat and cold.
It’s lovely that these plants extend the blooming season into the autumn. Although they do not change colour due to soil chemistry, shifting temperatures trigger these plants to transition from creamy white to pink or red.
Happy Thursday.
Castor beans are not something anyone should eat as they contain ricin which is highly poisonous.
Castor oil also comes from this plant and can be used medicinally as long as it is not ingested in large quantities.
Although the castor bean plant has to be treated with care, its soft, spiny pods (it’s perfectly safe to handle them) are a beautiful red once they ripen and the leaves also have a lovely shape and an interesting purplish colour. This plant also grows to about 2 metres (approx. 7 feet) so it would make a good privacy hedge.
Although it’s quite beautiful, I wouldn’t want to clean up after it once the pods start falling. It’s a prolific plant and there might be a lot of them!
Happy Tuesday.
Such a lovely shade of blue …
… and a lovely later summer addition to our gardens and fields.
Happy Tuesday.
One of things I love about summer is seeing all the various types of roses, blooming away in splendid profusion. There are so many, many of them, from the elegant to the plain, and all of them very lovely in their own way.
Aren’t they great? I hope your weekend is rosy.
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 