Wildflower Bouquet

This past weekend we pulled our camper up to our favorite camping spot, about 20 minutes upriver from our house. I am recovering from a frozen shoulder, so I spent the afternoons and evenings at camp, and then cheated by driving home to sleep in my own bed, which is far more comfortable, at this stage, than the camper. It felt so good to get out and enjoy a little bit of Summer, as Fall will shortly be nipping at our heels. When I arrived at camp, these flowers from Dear Husband were there to greet me. Hey, so who needs a dozen roses and FTD?

These are a special gift from my man....and they are beautiful to me.

(Shown here in front of a huge mossy rock at our campsite, which actually had ferns and a tiny fir tree growing out of it!)

Included in the bouquet: Indian Paintbrush, Bluebells, Wild Aster, Queen Anne's Lace, Verbascum, Goldenrod, and one Cat-tail......all in a lovely plastic water bottle vase. :-)

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"Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great,
if it is given with affection.”

Pindar ~ Greek Lyric Poet

Green Grasshopper

This lovely green grasshopper caught my eye in the garden this week, as it poised on a pink Hollyhock.


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The Grasshopper

by Conrad Aiken

Grasshopper

grasshopper

all day long

we hear your scraping

summer song

like

rusty

fiddles

in

the

grass

as through

the meadow

path

we pass

such funny legs

such funny feet

and how we wonder

what you eat

maybe a single blink of dew

sipped from a clover leaf would do

then high in air

once more you spring

to fall in grass again

and sing.

Hollyhocks in the Cottage Garden

There's not many flowers that represent the Cottage garden look to me more than Hollyhocks. They are a personal favorite of mine, because my Mother and Grandmother both grew them.

I love the color on this one....the closest to red I've seen on a Hollyhock.

I don't remember planting it in this spot, so it must be a volunteer. Volunteers are always welcomed in my garden. :-)

Echinacea 'Magnus' (which I did plant) is in the foreground of the Hollyhock, and makes for a pleasing combination, with it's reddish central cones echoing the red tones of the Hollyhock.

A wider view of this particular grouping of flowers includes pink Mallow, a white Hollyhock, and some volunteer Black Eyed Susans. Don't you just love how unplanned combinations can sometimes turn out to be the prettiest?