Thank you, Gardens

Sometimes I think that we have a love/neglect relationship with our gardens. They were in fantastic shape when we went camping a week ago. We came home a day early to a lot of changes in the gardens. Heat and no rain will do that.

Immediately, we watered the portions that we water. Being on a well limits what we will water. The VegePod got 20 minutes of showers. I love that system. You just connect the hose and the sprinklers do their thing. Looks like the greens survived and thrived without us.

When we came home a package of plastic bags was at the door. It's interesting how plans come together and you get the information you need when you need it. At the Peterborough Farmers' Market yesterday, a fresh vegetable vendor shared with us a trick she uses for packaging loose greens. You put the greens in the bag, grab the top corners of the bag and swing it around. Then you tie them together. It creates a bubble of air in the bag that keeps the greens from being crushed. We'll be testing it out on Wednesday morning.

I'd forgotten about these beauties. They are hiding behind some taller day lilies. Isn't that the loveliest blue?

Our re-blooming iris was looking particularly dramatic this morning.....

.... as was the early day lily.

Looks like we missed most of the alliums' bloom time. They're already forming seed pods.

Tall bearded irises and Siberian irises are in full bloom. What a welcome that was when I walked up the driveway. I wondered why I ever agree to leave home at this time of year.

Same variety in a different light.

So, I thought that these babies were cosmos when they appeared voluntarily in the vegetable garden. I transplanted them where they could bloom with the zinnias a couple of weeks ago. Well doggone! Chamomile. Never knew that Chamomile blossoms sleep at night. They are kind of cute when they sleep. I should pay more attention to them. Maybe make a tea.

The transplanted greens in the vegetable garden are coming along nicely.

Haskaps (Honeyberry) ripen over quite a long span of time. Some will be ripe in a few weeks. We may even get to eat some IF we remember to cover them with netting.

Same with blueberries - different stages of berry formation. These babies are covered already. They have their own wire mesh house.

I love the way these wild asters unfold. It's like they spiral their petals outward.

Buttercups have been popping up here and there. This one is saying, "I need sunshine!" I am hoping that some moss will choose to live in the cracks of the paving stones. It would be like the Japanese art, Kintsugi where artists fix broken pottery with gold. Can you picture it?

I believe the wild flower below is called False Solomon's Seal.

INaturalist's app is so helpful. I had no clue as to what this new-to-me wildflower was. It's a broad-leaved waterleaf or Canada Waterleaf. Every year new wildflowers have been appearing where we've re-wilded the garden. Maybe I should say the garden has re-wilded itself. I had no hand in this waterleaf's appearance here.