Dancin' in the Summer Sun!

The endless days of Summer 

will soon fade into Fall...
but oh...

what a glorious Summer it has been 
in 
This Grandmother's Garden!

 Every flower is a window opening into heaven, 

a mirror reflecting the Creator.
                                          - John Muir

Come stroll down my garden path with me...

and together we'll see the kaleidoscope of colors 

that still dance in the waning Summer's sun!

Verbena!

Earth laughs in flowers.

                  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Delphiniums are a Spring favorite,
but this year they have danced from Spring to Summer
and will still be dancing long into Fall...
until Old Man Winter's frost visits our gardens!

The Black-eyed Susan's were welcome guests this year. 

They surely came from dormant seeds sprouting in the soil from several summers past
when they filled my gardens borders. How they stole the show!
Lovely as they were then, I pulled them to allow other blossoms to thrive.
They may stay for another season as long as they keep their place.
I do love Black-eyed Susans!

Indulge me as a sweet memory fills my mind:

A tall, handsome and very sweet young man stood at my door step many years ago holding a bouquet of Black-eyed Susan's in his hands.  My heart smiled as I realized he had visited the house down the street. The house was overgrown with Black-eyed Susans, the blossoms filled the yard where grass once was.  It was said that a little old woman lived there but one rarely saw her and rumors abounded about who she was. Many thought she might be a witch who lived there all alone and if you dared to step in her gardens, she would cast a spell upon you.  She was a rather cautious old soul, no doubt because of the silly pranks neighbors would pull, ringing her doorbell and running away in an effort to make her come out of her house. At least these were the rumors that flew. 

I happened to love her flowers and would walk slowly past her house each morning on my way to campus. Sometimes I would see her peeking out at me from behind the curtains, her long beautiful gray hair falling down around her nightgown. I wondered who she was and why she never came out into her garden. As I saw her watching me I would always smile hoping to catch her eyes. 

Now here stood this young man before me, on my porch, flowers in hand and a tender smile on his lips as he offered the bouquet to me. I quickly expressed my concern that he had stepped into her yard and picked them without asking... not so much with worry that a spell might be cast upon him, as concern that he had stolen this little woman's flowers, a little woman I had grown quite fond of.  He quickly assured me that he had knocked on her door and politely asked the little woman  if he could pick a bouquet of flowers for his Sweetheart.  My heart instantly melted.  Though we had only been dating for a short time, I knew in my heart that such kindness would be mine forever!  That sweet "young" man has been my husband for over 35 years... and going on forever!   


The little old woman, she soon became my friend and often as I walked past her house, there she would be, sweeping her porch and waiting to greet me with a smile.

Yes, the Black-eyed Susans can stay in my garden.

Anything blue always catches my eye,

but Lobelia will forever hold place in my gardens and in my heart!

Zinnias!

Always a favorite in This Grandmother's Garden...

and Profusion Zinnias are the perfect size for my colorful summer pots.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
                                       - Aristotle

My 'So Dear to My Heart' Rose Garden has brought smiles 

and sweet memories of my many children,

now mostly grown, and some so far away.

What joy a walk down this garden path brings!

Every rose is budding and blooming again with delight...

now that the weather has turned cooler.

Flowers always make people happier, 
they are sunshine to the soul.
                                - Luther Burbank

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.
                                - Theodore Roethke

Apple Blossom Knockout Rose,
a sweet pink for dark corners.

Beloved Geranium, every year a new variety to choose.

All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so.
                         - Joseph Joubert


My soul rejoices as I garden. 
I feel the warmth of the sun, 
 see the beauty of the blossoms and trees 
and delight in the sweet song of the birds.

Emerson's words could well be my own:
 When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows 
and look out upon the beautiful world, 
I thank God I am alive.
                                - Ralph Waldo Emerson


I'm feeling that gratitude on this glorious Summer day.
There is sunshine in my soul, 
and my feet are dancin' in the Summer sun! 

Summer will soon come to an end 
but Autumn joy is just a hop, skip and a jump away!

The Amen of Nature is always a flower.

                        - Oliver Wendell Holmes

My sweet daisies are re-blooming!