Praying Mantis to Mystery Flower: 10 Days

A praying mantis waits for prey on a nasturtium in the veggie garden.

I'm glad I photographed this butterfly
 because I haven't seen one since. Where are you, butterflies?

The veggie jungle

Bees of different varieties are obsessed with the flowering oregano.

The red hibiscus flowers turn into umbrellas. Rain, rain, rain -
we've been getting late day storms nearly every day.

Daylilies remain stunning.

We took a spontaneous 24-hour trip to the beach at Salter Path, N.C., 

when we got the last room available at our favorite retreat center. 

Swimming held by the waves and walking the beach is a prayer.

Beach at sunset

Beach at sunrise

Blackberry picking

A mystery flower emerges from a tall plant with iris-like leaves.
Can you identify it?

Summer Drama

I thank an unknown former gardener
for planting dozens of these fragrant happy daylilies.

A raw swiss chard salad with decorative edible nasturtiums.
Young chard is not that bitter and raw greens
are said to be more nutritious.

An indescribable pink lily

Titmouse fledglings splashed in the bird bath.
This one then basked in the sun on the roof of the shed.

The surprise of new life after months in which this sword fern,
left outside all winter, appeared dead. 

First sungold cherry tomato of the season

Hydrangea after rain. I am developing a preference
for the varied shades of pinkish purplish blue flowers
that emerge in the absence of acid fertilizer. 

A hibiscus with blooms bigger than my hand drapes over the driveway.

We've been having frequent late afternoon thunderstorms,
and I'm rarely having to water the garden. 

I came home from work to find this top-heavy heirloom tomato plant
collapsed, breaking the stake. Miraculously, its stems were not broken
and my husband was able to prop it up and restake it. 

Southern Beauties - with a Maine Interlude

Imagine being a honeybee crawling on a fragrant gardenia. 

Gardenia fireworks - the shrub exploded into bloom almost overnight. 

Here we have a dramatic transition of subject, from the closeup views of a quarter-acre suburban garden to ....

the wild beauty of a rural Maine island in Casco Bay. 

 I slightly expanded the definition of backyard photos while in Maine. The bay with its changes in tides and winds and weather and sun draws me to it inexorably. It teaches me things 

that I cannot articulate. 

I try with the camera to evoke the mysterious beauty. I fail, of course, but I do not care. Life is happening according to rhythms that we cannot fathom or capture. Somehow that is a relief, a prayer.

But I am drawn to share the beautiful, and here's a bit of what I saw. 

A view from the walk to the stairs leading down to the beach.
This is one of the oldest cottages on the East End of the island.

The evening sun lights up the bay, seen from the porch of our cottage. 

High tide breaks on the ledge at the point.
How many hours (days) have I spent on this point I cannot say.  

Sunset at the wharf as seen through a lobster trap.
Lobstermen were just beginning to put in their traps for the summer. 

Twilight and eider ducks with their babies on the bay near the point. 

The beach at low tide. The rockweed has a beauty of its own,
and is home to all sorts of sea life. 

Eastern phoebes nested on the rafter of the front porch.
This phoebe alit in a lilac bush not long after fledging. 

In the miracle of modern airplane travel, I was transported reluctantly back to North Carolina. The lilies (not eaten by deer) and beginning to peak were a consolation. 

This post is the fourth in a series of "10 Days" posts featuring daily photographs from my backyard.

Summer Garden Lessons

Beth at Plant Postings invited me to participitate in her meme on Garden Lessons Learned: Summer 2011. Here's a few things I learned. 

Daylilies Say: Don't Worry

Consider the lilies of the field

how they grow

They neither toil nor spin

Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory

 was not arrayed like one of these.

Matthew 6:28b-29

Have a peaceful day!