Flowers

Lately, huge amounts of rain have made gardening and just being outdoors extremely difficult here in the mid-Atlantic. Earlier today there was a brief respite in the storm and the sun began to shine. Usually by mid-May our cold-weather crops, such as greens, cabbage, kale, lettuce and chard have been planted without fear of temperatures dipping below freezing… too often. Lately each day has been cold, dark and damp.

Normally this type of chilly weather has me puttering about the kitchen creating the ultimate in comfort foods, using the ovens to warm the house. Somehow that added warmth from the stove, along with a few lighted candles with a bit of jazz playing adds to that end of day ambience.

But, I digress my point is that I could not wait to get outdoors into that pleasant sunlight no matter how brief so, with camera in hand this is what was found. No matter how much cloud cover there has been recently, the earth is still doing what must be done to change seasons and flowers were blooming most prolifically. Staking the peonies was a must, cutting a few of the purple irises for indoors was a delight and seeing the hydrangea making a valiant effort this year…well its all astounding!!