What's Peaking in Mid-July

Two cherry tomato plants (Sun Gold and Sweet Million)
are producing a bowlful per day. We've begun bartering them for eggs
with a neighbor.

The new butterfly garden looks lovely,
with a nameless salvia, crocosmia and coneflower,
but I've seen perhaps two butterflies there. Lots of bees, though. 

Cosmos in the parsley

It rained nearly every afternoon for what seemed like weeks.

The cucumber trellised itself on the cherry tomato plant.

This brown thrasher spent several minutes rubbing its belly
and preening on the top of the Prius. 

This bunny thinks he owns the garden. He's been eating coneflowers,
coreopsis and on the plus side, Johnson grass. 

Crepe myrtles are peaking.

A small milkweed bug on the butterfly weed.

I can't decide if this combination of two unusual kinds of coleus
and basket grass is creatively inspired or hideous. 

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 Blooms and More: 10 Days

Mr. Cardinal

Nasturtiums are beautiful and edible.

The female towhee, well camouflaged

A baby bunny I didn't have the heart to scare out of the garden

This past week the gardenia exploded with blooms, so many that I don't feel guilty at all about cutting them and bringing them indoors. 

Bean flowers in their tiny perfection

I didn't know squash flowers were so lovely.

The new oakleaf hydrangea "Ellen Huff" seems happy near the foundation.

The first lily to bloom in the garden this year. 

Tropical Storm Andrea dumped 4.5 inches of rain.