Jolly Sommer

The color of the clouds changed back and forth between white and gray as I worked in the garden this morning. It changed from sunny to stormy but it never rained. It's later than I usually sow my flower seeds but it's only been the past couple of weeks that the warm temperatures have warmed the ground enough for sowing seeds. I've sown my favorite flowers and herbs seeds: Russian Mammoth Sunflowers (approximate 10-12 feet) along with smaller (approximate 5-7 feet) Velvet Queen, Evening Sun, Autumn Beauty, Lemon Queen, and Dwarf Incredible. In another area of my garden I've sown Cosmos, Stock, Shasta Daisy, Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory, Crackerjack Marigold, Zinnias, Forget-Me-Not, Bunny Tails, Calendula, Dill and Borage. There are four more packets of Sunflower seeds to sow tomorrow. Nearly every season I grow Sunflowers and I can't remember when my garden didn't have them. My garden in past summers (summer 2008 -- summer 2009) and last year's garden was filled with Mammoth Sunflowers nearly 12 feet tall. I wasn't able to do much gardening last year due to knee problems and so I don't over due my garden is much smaller this year. I don't have as many vegetables this year as in the past but I'm never without tomato plants. This year I've put my German Pink Tomatoes plants in containers and I'm anxious to see how they do as I've never had this variety before. My mother gave me 6 of her 12 Big Boy tomato plants so between the two of us we hope to have some tomatoes. This week end I'm fixing new herb pots with Dill, Parsley, Oregano, and Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Lemon Balm, and Cilantro. Now it really is summer!

Then came the jolly sommer, being dight

In a thin silken cassock, coloured greene,

That was unlyned all, to be more light.

~Edmund Spenser~

The Faerie Queene

(bk. VII, canto VII, st. 29)