Time passes and we are into Autumn now. I'm not sure quite how we got here so quickly as it seems like it was June just a little bit ago. Perhaps the rainy, wet summer that we had made the time pass faster, since there were a lot of 'summer' things we really couldn't do.
But now, I wander around the yard and spy the Oakleaf Hydrangeas turning brown upon their stems. They are still lovely, with their 'vintage' color - like a faded old dress.
I spot the 'regular' hydrangeas and some of them are still lovely - holding onto their color as everything around them fades to tan and brown.
There are some spots of red here and there, but I have to look very carefully to spot them.
These brown lichen make me think of pancakes as they cling to an old tree stump. Actually they look quite delicious.
"Autumn wins you best by this its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay." - Robert Browning
In between rain showers I rushed outside to capture some of the intrepid flowers that are blooming. These little Balloon plants are such a lovely, deep purple color and so abundant.
My Lavender is trying very hard to bloom -- but I suspect its wondering how it ended up here, instead of a dryer, Mediterranean climate.
The Echincea and Black Eyed Susans are working nicely together with their bright colors.
Oh and don't I love the Butterfly Weed (now how could anyone call this a weed) with its bright orange blooms.
Lastly, but certainly not least, come my Hydrangeas which are still standing tall, blooming beautifully and saying to the rain 'bring it on'!
Summer is here and the hydrangeas in our yard are celebrating.
I love their passion for life. Are they not the Mae West of flowers? Blowsy, outgoing, colorful -- you cannot pass them by without stopping.
As the morning sun hits them I can see the new ones, just coming on, with their very delicate flowers, and the full blown flowers with drops of last night's rain on their petals.
I celebrate along with them -- with a full heart of thankfulness.
"Flowers...are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
This year has given our whole neighborhood a bumper crop of Hydrangeas -- and the most spectacular fuchsia color that I've ever seen. Of course I had to use this color in a heart loop-pile embroidery.
Add to that the finding of this marvelous dragonfly charm - hidden in amongst my stash of 'found objects' - the heart practically made itself.
Somehow hearts and gardens seem to go together -- perhaps it is a bond with the earth and its bounty that we each have. While I myself do not have a green thumb, its with delight that I can translate the natural world into stitchery.
"By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower". - Rabindranath Tagore
