"Hello" July

We are in Watercolor Days, bright light that washes the landscape even early in the morning.

The sunflowers are opening! A July gift!

I sowed five different types this year. Two have opened this morning.

There are other flowers in bloom.
The Red Cap Zinnias are new for me this year. I am growing them under the bird feeding station. I am hoping the hummingbirds will like the color!

These Bright Eyes Cosmos are from saved seed that a friend brought to me. I have had them now for a few years. I save the seed. I winter sowed these this past winter. I have them in many parts of the yard. My desire for orange and yellow flowers for the October gardens means I have orange and yellow flowers in July too. I have been growing orange flowers and enjoy them so very much.

The marigolds I have direct sowed are doing fine. I will save seed for next year.

The Moon Glow Coreopis are in bloom. I have a hedge of them. They will finish up and I will cut them back for another bloom in August.

It is hot and humid. Will be doing my garden chores in the early morning and late evening now.

Tour de France starts today. The teams are still playing World Cup. We are listening to baseball on radio. It is time for potato salad and baked beans. Soon, very soon tomatoes!

Like the inside of the house the outside has work to be done to bring the July Gardens up to beautiful. I will keep a journal of what is in bloom and what we are eating so I can plan for next year.

I decided my fun July first activity would be preserving my Edelweiss. I did two layers in white sand. Come December I will use them for cards. I have a dwarf variety growing in my miniature garden, also known as a Faery Garden. Mine had flopped over so I will find a pretty tiny support for them for next year. I am new to Edelweiss. I want to propagate this plant. I want to learn how to use it.

I sat my yellow bucket on the counter. The Edelweiss are hardy so I should be able to do this every year. Drying in sand is excellent for preserving flowers. I use the fine white sand. It draws the moisture out. I will check the flowers on the 15th that is when the growers in Canada show theirs in full bloom. I am about two weeks ahead of them.

I checked the weather station this afternoon, 100 degress. "Hello" July!

If you are up at dawn tomorrow you can look to the east and see Venus rising. The red star, Aldebraran, the eye of the bull, Taurus, can also be seen and the Pleiades are just above both of these Dawn delights. I enjoy Stardate every month. I print a copy for the refigerator so we have a fast daily up date of what is in the heavens.