“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.” -Aldo Leopold

I love the idea of flowers’ arrivals being anniversaries. Year after year…you would think that ONE year something would happen and nothing would bud (not to be a pessimist).  “The bloom” is something you can fabulously and wonderfully rely upon. This is that point in the year when my garden looks just about its very best. Fresh, lush, colorful…looking well rested and ready for a great season after a lonnnng winter. You know those days when you have had a great night’s sleep and you look in the mirror in the morning and are greeted with a good image, rather than a scary one? That’s my garden these days. And one of the best parts is that there is a new bloom virtually every day. Daily surprises. “Look at me! I made it through the winter! Look at me, here I am!” they all cry.

“The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” -Thich Nhat Hahn

Watch for the beauties emerging each day. They aren’t here for very long, after all.

Here are some of them appearing in my yard…

This little sunflower plant (left) sprung from a wandering seed and is now taking up residence alongside some Forget-Me-Nots. Our sunflowers were located about 4 feet to the right last summer (love when that happens)….

These irises look like paintbrushes loaded with violet paint on one day….

And lovely blooms the next…

Some yellows joined the gang this year…

And one, perfect orange fellow…

Some other purply wonders (a clematis called “Mr. President”. Maybe I’ll sing to it like the breathy Marilyn Monroe to get it to grow even more.)…

And yet another iris. There have never been so many irises in the garden. I don’t know what the heck happened over the winter!

And still more! (are you bored yet?)….

These purple runner beans made me smile because you can so clearly see them growing up and out of their seeds. It is like a science book diagram come-to-life…

And finally, my ode to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. While I don’t have a field full, I have about 6 of these papery fleurs…just click your heels and enjoy this technicolor time of year~