* SUMMER BLOOMS *

Summer has arrived with all the heat and humidity it could possibly bring.

Today, I had a doctor visit to make and on the way, the temperature in the car was showing to be 101!

We have had very little rain here and I am watering almost daily. As I tended the flowers, I took a few pictures to share.

 This is a native bee balm that David found in the woods and brought home. Most gardens have the red variety because the hummingbirds love it. We found they also are fond of this one as well. I like the lavender blue color, it looks cool even when the temperature is not.

 

This is one of my very favorite summer flowers. It is an old fashioned, double orange daylily. These were in mama's yard when I was little and they just make me happy.

Stokesia is another pass-along plant I love because it too is a lovely shade of cool blue.

I do so love phlox not just because they are so pretty but because they perfume the whole yard.

(I seem to be using the word love in connection with flowers a lot. I guess there aren't many I don't like.)

Ok, not a flower, but in a pot in my flower bed and they do begin with a tiny yellow flower.

I do not know the botanical names or the exact variety of the plants in my yard because most of them were given to me by friends and fellow gardeners or brought home by DH. That makes my yard all the more special to me. Each time they bloom, they remind me of a sweet friend or evoke a happy memory. I have often wondered when it comes time to downsize to a smaller place, however will I leave my plants? I guess I really do have a love affair with flowers.

Of course, if this hot, dry weather continues, and I have to drag a sprinkler around all summer, that opinion may change!