On a day that’s expected to cross into the triple digit territory, getting out in nature might be a challenge. Neither the Ranch Hands nor me do well in the heat which has been relentless for days on end recently so seeing nature at her finest has been fleeting. A few sights have been inspiring but the harsh bright light took some of the luster off otherwise lovely summer perennials. Still, on a neighborhood errand-running jaunt where I took a different route from normal, something other than crispy-crunchy plants were discovered yesterday.
At any rate, it’s Friday, we somehow managed to survive the miserable heatwave burning through much of the country and we’re joining our ‘furiends’ Rosy, Arty and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard. When you click on the link, you’ll be able to see what the Gang and others around Blogville have shared this week. So let’s get started, ‘kay?
So what’s currently blooming around our neighborhood? Well, glad you asked. Gladiolas are out for one. Although I’ve never planted any (I have enough trouble keeping tulips from flopping over in early spring), they sure are pretty. Check out this flashy one!
Sorry for the harsh lighting; I came across these beauties mid-morning and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was BRIGHT.
Another staple out this time of year are commonly known as daylilies (Hemerocallis). Did you know Hemerocallis comes from two Greek words (hēmera) “day” and (kalos) “beautiful.” That pretty much nails it in my mind.
Native primarily in eastern Asia (including China, Korea, and Japan) they are now popular worldwide because of their showy flowers and their hardiness with over 80,000 registered cultivars. Some are fragrant and others will rebloom later in the season. Daylilies are actually not true lilies, despite having a similar shape in the flowers. According to Wikipedia,
prior to“2009, the scientific classification of daylilies put them into the family Liliaceae. Unlike daylilies (which have a fibrous root system), Liliaceae species grow from bulbs and are harmful to humans and animals if ingested. It is a common misconception that daylilies share the same toxic properties of true lilies.” Hemerocallis are toxic to cats and may be fatal if ingested.
Hemerocallis come in a variety of colors from the classic yellow, orange, and pale pink varieties, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, and near-white. So far there has not been any successful hybridization with primarily blue-colored flowers.
Next door to the daylilies garden, a newly planted garden was emerging as a fairy habitat. It should be interesting to see how the interspersed plants develop around the multiple village structures as we move toward autumn, which for those needing some hope with the weather is 73 days away (you’re welcome). I loved seeing all the various little stone and shell constructed buildings.
Some people are just too clever (and/or have too much time on their hands).
And just because they’re naturalizating all over my garden, how about a bright cheerful sunflower to welcome the weekend? We hope your weekend is extra special. Stay safe, sane and please wear a mask when you go out but most of all keep smiling.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
And here I thought you would be a fan of the Dog Days of Summer!
Definitely nope, no, nein , nyet…no how, no way. Good thing I don’t have strong feelings, huh? 😁
Pretty pretty flowers.
They help make the ungodly heat a bit better. 😊
Such beautiful flowers Monika!!! I have never seen such glorious Glads EVER! Love the Lilies! too…
I swear we are living in your State the past 2 weeks; hot & humid & triple digits here…
I had no energy to blog even. And fell behind visiting blogs. A certain kitty girl had a quiet word with me, lol…
So not only did I help her compose a blog post today I am actually visiting blogs! 😉
What we do for our 4 leggeds!!!!!!!
(((hugs))) Sherri-Ellen & ***purrss*** BellaDharma
Always nice to see you pop in. And thanks for the kind comment. We 💙 you both!
I stay away from “floppy” flowers – they are impossible to prop up in a “pretty” way although I do love seeing them and their beautiful colors. The fairy garden is adorable…..! Stay cool…..if you can that is…………
Hugs, Pam
Yeah, I avoid those floppy pretty flowers too. Always disappointed with the way they look in a vase.
Love the fairy home!
“Fairytopia” has probably 20 or more little houses. So wild!
Those glads are superb!!
I know a farmer not too far from here, he grows glads!! Imagine the colorful fields he must have. Sometimes there are huge vases of his blooms in our church, they sure are lovely in all kinds of colors.
Our soil is so nutrient sparse and sandy, we can hardly grow anything but what might be native to this area…esp with the heat wave and drought.
We have a few daylilies, all the ‘traditional’ yellow…and some type of yellow daisy like flower, that seem to attract tons of red aphids, YUCK! There are others that grow not too badly cause *she* augments the soil and feeds them weekly.
Those fairy gardens are sweet:)
Thanks for dropping by; we always love visitors. My soil is the opposite of yours-heavy clay. In the 18+ years I’ve lived here I’ve added tons of compost yet, it still is…clay. It’s infuriating when you want to plant some flowers that prefer well drained soil. Maybe I should build a fairy village! 😻
Aesthetic natural landscape! Happy weekend!
The seeds from that sunflower are MINE
I always love how your pics look like paintings.
We’re bracing ourselves for a ton of rain thanks to some storms heading our way, so it might be a movie binge weekend.
Happy Friday!
You’re always so kind, Marco. Feel free to send any excess rain back west. We can sure use it. Have a groovy weekend binging.
Why thank you Ms Monika. 🙂
It “feels like” 105 here with the high humidity. We’ve had to stop eating outside on our new porch, and I can’t let the pups out for very long, either. It’s nice to see beautiful flowers that are surviving your heat wave. Hmm, better go water mine now…
The heat is bad enough but that intense sun with our altitude makes it really horrible. Course, everyone around here likes to remind me “but it’s a dry heat” to which I say Pfft! Hope those tender paws don’t get burned.
Mom says her father-in-law could really grow beautiful glads. Brilliant assortment of colors too. Those are pretty ones you found. We have yellow daylilies here. They were very pretty but the heat got them. They didn’t last as long as they usually do:(
Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber
Thank you! I always love seeing daylilies. Not many things continue to bloom in the extreme heat but those guys seem to somehow survive.
But no one knows that I’m smiling!! (kidding). Glads were my Mom’s favorite flower, so they always make me think of her. One of these days I’ll plant some in my garden!
Sunflowers are one of my favorites – those are gorgeous!
Beautiful flowers and those fairey houses are different for sure. Thanks for the tour, Monika.
Thanks, John. The houses are definitely different and lad that garden isn’t on my street. LOL 🧚🏼♀️
😊
I want to go stay on a tropical beach and build little seashell houses now LOL!
Gorgeous daylilies and gladiolas. Hope things cool off for you soon. After moving to the Pac Northwest Coast after living many years in hot, hot, hot Texas, I still feel so spoiled by the 60 degree days in July!
My daughter lives in the Houston area now and she’s just miserable. At least here it’s a ‘dry heat.’ But oh, what I wouldn’t give for 60 degrees. Aren’t those seashell houses cute?
It’s too hot for us here as well. You did find some great flowers to share with us and we just love those fairy houses.
They are pretty cute, even if way too many in that yard. Should be fun seeing how the plants develop around them. Have a great weekend and try to stay cool.
Those are some tiny tiny homes. Great finds!
Tiny homes are the latest craze. They are darn right adorable.
Those are cute little houses…are there any toads living in them?!
There must have been a couple dozen so they’d certainly have lots of potential choices. Probably the most affordable homes in the neighborhood, too! 🐸
LOL…
I’ll say like you… the day was BRIGHT! You still managed to treat us to lovely images – and I know that is no easy feat!
We are also in a major heatwave. It’s been the most awful thing ever in my life to work in… Thank God I am off today but back in tomorrow and Sunday and they are calling for thundershowers (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!)
Happy Friday to you!
As you know, cloud cover is a photographers best friend. Even editing couldn’t blunt the harsh sunlight much without distorting the colors beyond recognition. *sigh
Here’s to weekend showers for you. Very jealous, rain is beyond elusive here. Where are the summer monsoons when you need them? Don’t work too hard and try to stay cool.
Yes, I do know. And kudos to you for even going out there. I have today off and I went outside to get something… effin’ ‘ell… no way am I going out there with camera!
They keep calling for it and other than that 15-minute shot we had on Wednesday, has been scarce. The little grass I have is more like hay, now.
Yeah, ‘straw’ is making its appearance here. There isn’t enough water to keep turf grass looking good in this kind of heat. I never set out to photograph flowers in that kind of bright light, but those Glads were just too pretty not to try. I had hoped for better results on the editing but alas. when you start out with crap, it’s hard to correct it.
I absolutely refuse to water my grass. (Another reason to go the xeriscape way). And why I love that the Queen Anne;’s Lace popped up in the middle of my lawn!
Those glads were glorious! And ya done good, so stop it.
Your daylilies are lovely. Ours are the standard yellow. No big whoop! Something I do miss this year are the sunflowers. Yours are so big and beautiful.
Shoko and Jean
Sunflowers make me smile even on days when life seems cloudy. 🌻
I love daylilies! We have a bunch of them here and there.
They are such a beautiful addition to any garden. Had no idea they were a no-no around cats though. Have a pawsome weekend and give sweet Ducky a good ear rub from me.
Beautiful flowers. Had to chuckle over the fairy garden. Some of them are quite intricate. Fun though.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to the pups. ♥
That fairy garden as a whole was mind blowing cluttered but fascinating. Not my jam to do the entire yard but whatever cranks your handle, right? Enjoy the weekend, Sandee.
Beautiful flowers! Love those SuperCheerful Sunflowers☺
Nothing like a sunflower to brighten one’s spirit, eh?
Love gladiolas! I planted them a long time ago. They have to be dug up for the winter and replanted the following spring. Way too much work for me.
And that’s why there are no Dahlias in my garden. 😇
Oh yeah! Did those for a couple of years until I sloppy and they froze.
My grandfather had dinner plate sized dahlias that always amazed me. I had no idea you had to dig them up for winter. Found out the hard way one year. Never again. By the time summer is over, I’m so over all the digging/weeding/etc. for plants and just want to hibernate.
Indeed! Come September and I’m begging for a frost to end it all except for the wonderful tomatoes still coming in. Because I was locked down, I have more large plant pots then in many years. Watering it all every day will get tiresome.
You got that right. With the relentless heat, it’s been frequently two and sometimes 3 times a day with the clay pots. They dry out too quickly. 🥵
Most of mine are in at least part shade and that helps. Before the tree at the front door matured, those planters were twice a day in the hot weather. I don’t use clay for that reason. Some of the resin ones retain the water better.
Great pictures, and interesting little houses! 🙂
Have a great weekend, and stay healthy, too,
Pit
P.S.: we have a statewide order to wear masks, but our local sheriff refuses to enforce it, and he himself refuses to wear a mask. Isn’t that really great?!
We have some sheriffs here expressing the same thing. It’s quite stunning and probably explains why the COVID spikes have occurred lately. It seems that ‘free-dumb’ thinking is short sighted and dangerous. #COVIDIOTS
Beautiful photos, Monika!
You know, it is a well known fact that corgis are the steeds of fairies. Maybe I should take Zoe around and to the fairy garden and let her see what they are up to…
Thanks, Amy. So do Corgis take fairies on their mischief runs?
It was so hot in London recently that my friend had to keep her tortoise indoors in case he cookd in his shell….then the weather reverted to normal for summer, rain and wind.
World wide weather is so messed up these days. When you start cooking tortoises, you know things are in especially bad shape. Happy weekend, Helen. Stay cool down your way.
brilliant photos! I like gladiolas and remember having them in the house in Tampa, TALL vases of TALL flower stalks
They are really pretty; maybe I’ll think about planting some for next year once I find some nice tall vases.
thats a super sweet fairy place…and we love gladiolas ;O) Happy weekend to youuuu
Aren’t they gorgeous? Have a super weekend.