Spring arrives a little more each day.

About two weeks ago, false spring arrived. The sun was shining, the snow melting.

While watering my plants this week, I spotted flowers forming on some of my begonias. My little lemon tree is putting out buds and new growth and the lime has been flowering for a while.

December arrived and with it winter. Snow and snow and snow.

Hello my friend!

Summer has arrived in full force and my garden continues to enchant me every day.

All week I’ve been thinking about what I want to share in my first post of 2024.

Earlier this week I sat in my studio with a steaming mug of Dragonwell tea and watched my garden through my new sliding doors.

Not much was happening in the garden in April, but now things are really starting to take off.

Wednesday morning I woke up and checked the temperature. Negative 19 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of negative thirty-two. It was our second day in a row of bitter cold.

Wednesday morning dawned with a blowy, snowy storm. Most mornings after breakfast and coffee I start my day with a walk.

One of the first things I noticed in the oncology waiting room were two huge Christmas cactuses filled with blooms, even though it was late January.

I cut handfuls of dead flowers from my garden this week. Their shapes are interesting. Petals twisted. Leaves furled as if frozen in motion.

September is here and I’m relishing the seasonal shifts.

If July’s garden stars were purple poppies, August’s are sunflowers.

Noticing beauty needn’t be limited to seeing it. Last week we focused on COLOR, something we experience with our eyesight, but this week I want you to awaken your other senses.

Did you end up writing a Gratitude List after my post last week?

Are you ready for today’s prompt to help open your eyes to the beauties and joys of summer*?

This week I want you to focus on COLOR.

Summer is speeding past and before it’s gone I want to make sure I savor all the things I love about it.

To remind me to slow down and savor the days, I’m devoting the month of August to gratitude and joy.

The purple poppies have been stealing the show around here lately.

Two weeks ago nights were in the 30s and there was danger of frost. Summer weather quickly arrived and today heat index values could reach 105.

For me, springtime in the garden always means violas and pansies. They’re some of the first things to show up at garden centers and one of the first things to bloom in my garden.