Summer Solstice in the garden

our first gladiolus of the season about to bloom
There are some zinnias getting ready, too!

Today is the summer solstice, and also my birthday. I woke up at five this morning and watched the sunrise with the dogs out in the cleared field. The open packages of pumpkins and a few other 20 cent packages went into good black earth out where I can look at them periodically. It felt like a year for 'cultivation'... I like to spend that hour or so as the sun comes up thinking about what the last year has been about, and what the next one might be.

Then I found a beautiful moth in the garden, and went inside to get the camera.


A beautiful moth
It is a female 'Io' moth, Automenis io, according to the
pictures at this article on Saturniid Moths

I continued taking pictures of the things I found in the garden.


The bean fence we ran and planted seeds near the other day. Nothing is up, yet.


A frog that stopped to pose



more bees in the squash

We went to the library and bought some used books, then came back home. Esme and I spent some time pulling weeds in the back of the garden. She is allowed highly supervised entrances into the garden until she hurts something.. we planted an 'amaryllis' plant a friend gave me into the garden and Esme was very good, up until she started waving around pulled cornstalks from the mulch pile. She then stepped on the 'amaryllis'.. the 's are because it does not look like an amaryllis, and is unmarked. I don't think she killed it, but it was looking unhappy after that. Oh well :( I also planted the broom corn (milo) and then let Esme back into the garden (after her drama queen at being thrown out had ended naturally) and we watered the 'babies', amaryllis and broom corn seeds and a few other things that looked a little parched. It promises to rain today, but has not yet produced. I do hope if it rains it does not have high winds to damage anything else!


black eyed peas


tiny fungi


Pinto pods
The yellow one with purple spots is ripe


The pumpkin has grown this much!

Whipporwill Southern Peas on Etsy from a very local (to me) grower who states they have been in their family for four generations. Mark says they are 'climatically already here...' so I am ordering a package.