Hollyhocks...and more

Names

by Dorothy Aldis

Larkspur and Hollyhock,

Pink Rose and Purple Stock,

Lovely smelling Mignonette

Lilies not quite opened yet,

Phlox the favorite of bees,

Bleeding Heart and Peonies -

Just their names are nice to say,

softly,

On a summer's day.

The above are not the named flowers in the poem, but just as exquisite.

My sister, Margy, recited this poem for us about a year ago on a garden tour as we left Connie's on a VERY hot day.

Below, this hollyhock is tiny in stock only; its flowers are normal size!

Is this the Drama Queen, Connie?
The unfolding and opening of one my bold pink favorites.

The face of this hollyhock is everybit as complicated as ours, and surprisingly lovely with no make-up or new hairdo!

I may have had to buy a lug of tomatoes to put up yesterday,

but my flowers flouish.

Tour Mine!

Finally it has warmed up to produce a little fruit. This is a Costata Romanesca Zucchini with a nutty flavor surpassing all others, in MY opinion. I like to slice it lengthwise, paint a hint of olive oil on the slices, sprinkle Kosher salt on top of that and broil them until crispy. A scattering of parmasean cheese helps too. Yum!

Some Cosmos has begun blooming in the nursery bed where I start perenniels like Hollyhocks and Coreopsis. Don't your just love to capture a picture of a pollinator at work?

These Gailardia, below, have 'volunteered'. I cannot recall planting any such thing in the nursery bed. I LOVE the color...maybe the 'Arizona Sun' variety of Blanket Flower (its common name).


Out of the nursery bed came this favorite Hollyhock, of which I'm truly fond. It probably has a 'right' name, but I merely collect seeds from ones I love at other people's gardens. Putting them in small zip-lock baggies with lables like 'Double, bold pink, HH from Janet' is how I get them started.

It is Lily season here; one apple tree and one Honeysuckle tree are surrounded by a large circle of these Lilies.

There are more...Calendulas, Coreopsis, and others. You'll just have to come by for a visit in order to feast your eyes on what's blooming. See you soon!