Color and Life in the Late Summer Garden

After a few days of rain, let's seek a little color in the garden today.

This little fellow was up at dawn, 

helping me to load the car for the farmer's market.

He has a nice home under the rustic apple wood patio table.

The color is seeping into the sedum

and the patch is alive and humming with honey bees.

There is so much color in the garden in these late summer days.

In rainbow order, here are some of the vibrant hues.

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue/Indigo

Violet

Where ever you are, whatever the weather,

I wish you beautiful surroundings and the very best company.

Steve strolled today: Out on the Prarie

And so did Pom Pom: Pom Pom's Ponderings

Photo key: 1) yellow snapdragon, 2 & 3) Mr. Toad  4 & 5) Sedum, Autumn Joy  6) Central Garden Path  7) Amish Paste Tomato  8) Ring of Fire Cayenne 9) Habanero  10) Howden Pumpkin  11) Cucumber Flower 12 & 13) Russian Giant/Mammoth Gray Sunflower 14) Anise Hyssop  15) Thai Basil 16) Mabel, or as we often call her "Little Mabes"

Sunday Stroll Invitation

"Everywhere is within walking distance,

if you have the time."

~ Steven Wright

If you have time this week for a Sunday Stroll, and if your weather allows, please post about about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post.  You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or side bar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so other strollers can walk through your garden too. 

I will be at the farm market in the morning, so my own stroll will be late (if it happens at all!)  Hope some of you have the chance for a long, leisurely stroll!

Steve strolled today: Out on the Prarie

And so did Pom Pom: Pom Pom's Ponderings

quotes from Quotesgram.com

Sunday Stroll - Around the Farm

 The pumpkins are ripe,

a little too early,

but we are still waiting for peaches,

and plums.

 There is one lone almond on our three young trees.

How we will know when it is ripe?

The red grapes are nearly ready,

but it will be several more weeks

until the Concords ripen.

A few good frosts will make them

extra sweet!

The pears are also weeks away.

When we head out of the garden,

and down past the Goldenrod,

and the Black-eyed Susans,

we see that we are not the only ones

bringing in the harvest.

These wild apples are not pretty enough for the

super market perhaps, 

but they make a fine crisp snack

as we wander in the woods.

Oops!  Yes, they are still a bit tart!

Deep blue ripe juniper berries,

nestle amid new green berries 

which will not ripen until

at least next year.

Tiny Russian Olive berries 

tempt birds and wine-makers alike.

They are small, but full of rich antioxidants,

which make them worth picking.

It is nearly time to bid the blackberry patch

farewell until next summer.

It is nearly time for autumn color

to settle into the woods.

We will walk back home beneath a leafy canopy

and a sky full of 

fat white clouds and gusty wind.  

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you a deep appreciation of the season.

See Steve's lovely stroll Around a Golden Pond here:  Out on the Prairie

And Pom Pom's Happy Colorful stroll here: Pom Pom's Ponderings 

Sunday Stroll Invitation

Rain is grace; 

rain is the sky descending to the earth; 

without rain, there would be no life. 

John Updike

If you have time this week for a Sunday Stroll, and if your weather allows, please post about about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post.  You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or side bar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so other strollers can walk through your garden too. I'll check back as often as my busy day on the farm allows and try to keep the list updated.

See Steve's lovely stroll Around a Golden Pond here:  Out on the Prairie
And see Pom Pom's Happy, Colorful Stroll here: Pom Pom's Ponderings 



Quote from:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/rain.html

Sunday Stroll Invitation

Rain is grace; 

rain is the sky descending to the earth; 

without rain, there would be no life. 

John Updike

If you have time this week for a Sunday Stroll, and if your weather allows, please post about about it on your blog and then come back here with a comment and a link to your post.  You may use the Sunday Stroll button at the top of this post on your post or side bar if you would like. I will add participant names to this post so other strollers can walk through your garden too. I'll check back as often as my busy day on the farm allows and try to keep the list updated.



Quote from:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/rain.html

Sunday Stroll - The Trees Along the Way

 Yes, we are still harvesting blackberries, 

but the long walk to the patch is pretty. Come on!

We will go out beyond the swamp 

and past all the wild apple trees,

full of tiny unripe apples in a variety of colors.

We will walk under a canopy of maples,

now hinting of autumn's approach.

 Perhaps we will remove our hats

and set down our heavy bowls,

 and take a rest in the shade of the cedar trees for a little while.

We can take the long way back to the house,

through the breezy woods on the ridge top,

where the birch trees grow in clusters like wildflowers,

full of color and pattern.

We will linger near the ancient maple

that looks like praying hands.

She holds a wild gooseberry bush

in her palms.

If we walk slowly, there are small works of art everywhere, 

even beneath our feet in the leaf litter.

and in the wild tangle of life 

at the swamps edge.

When we step out into the open field

at the edge of the woods,

we will have a bucketful of blackberries

and a heart full of peace.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you joy in small things.