I was enchanted by the yellow to intense lipstick red blooms against the bright green leaves on this crocosmia. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees love them, too!
It’s said that dipping dry crocosmia flowers in water releases a saffron-like aroma. Crocosmia plants grow from corms, which are closely related to bulbs.
The spiritual meaning of this beautiful plant encourages us to playfully engage our emotional strength, power, and will to express ourselves confidently and with enthusiasm.
#FOTD
My son has the greenest thumb EVER. I lovelove the Matilija poppy but have never been able to keep a single plant alive, and this beauty is more than six feet tall in its first year. He told me that everyone who walks by stops to take pics and a selfie in front of this incredible specimen.
This morning a fried egg appeared in the backyard,
a startling yellow ball floating
on a white round of wide petals.
Officially: Matilija Poppy.
It hovers,
this hint of perfection,
above mostly unadorned foliage. — Kari Wergeland’
Romneya coulteri: A shrubby perennial that grows to eight feet, found on dry slopes and sandy washes in coastal sage scrub and chaparral, generally away from the coast (mountain foothills and Santa Ana Mountains).
Like many others in this family this species is a fire follower. While it’s on the California Native Plant Society List 4.2, a watch list for species with limited distribution in California, it’s thriving in Washington state.
I guess I’ll keep trying until I achieve success.
This is a friend’s land tortoise who likes to make himself at home in their living room. They’ve had him for a couple of decades and he follows me around when I wear pink or red. He must think I look like a hibiscus flower, his favorite snack.
Don’t know who did this, but it’s a cute fire hydrant, all dressed up.
I tried to get closer to this white egret, but he flew away…
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” — John Keats.
I used to love to walk through the downtown of my little city, until elected officials decided to call it a “village” but instead ruin it by filling it with boxes of ugly square buildings and a lot more places for people to get nasty drunk.
There’s no longer any charm; the atmosphere is entirely UNvillage-like, actually about as far away from being a “village” as you could possibly get.
I usually stay away but yesterday I found myself in the area and stopped at a little consignment shop, not the same one where I once scored AUTHENTIC Louis Vuitton and Dior scarves in the same day, but one with housewares and touristy stuff.
That’s where i fell in love with this beautiful work of art in the form of a pitcher and HAD to bring it home with me.
She needed a special photo shoot to properly reveal the iridescent green and gold, so I brought her out to the garden to soak up a few rays.
Have you ever seen anything more charming and ENCHANTED? I think not.
There’s no maker mark so it’s not valuable to anyone but me, but I love pretty things and this pitcher will definitely be on display in all of her glory. I’m burying the lede here, but in case you’re wondering, it cost $8.00.That’s it. EIGHT DOLLARS.
A thing of beauty is absolutely a joy forever.
I’m not talking about that song by the The Romantics, but a secret spot I discovered while out walking yesterday.
I can’t believe I’ve lived here for decades and never knew about this little beachy secret. One other person was there with their dogs and we vowed not to disclose this classified location…
Pretty cool, huh?
Looking to the east…
And to the west…
I MIGHT be persuaded to share the coordinates of this idyllic site, but you’d have to also be sworn to secrecy.
Can I trust you?
Happy first day of summer and the longest day of the year!
Until recently, I hadn’t known about the practice of celebrating Litha during Midsummer. Litha is a pagan holiday, a time of light, purification, and healing; to reflect on the light and dark within us and the world.
It’s time to appreciate everything we have in our lives and to be grateful for nature and all that she provides.
Pick some flowers to honor the season or build a fire or light a candle. A fire lit on Litha is said to be very powerful and magical.
“Write down your hopes and dreams and burn them in the fire, to do this on Litha night will bring you your desire.”
The Sun
Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful
than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon
and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone–
and how it slides again
out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower
streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance–
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love–
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure
that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you
as you stand there,
empty-handed–
or have you too
turned from this world–
or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?
– Mary Oliver
“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you, if the simple things of Nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” — Eleonora Duse
Don’t these clouds look like they should contain a message from the universe?
I love to look up and see blue sky and white clouds. No filter needed, that’s for sure.
This is honestly the first day we’ve had a sunny and warm afternoon. I don’t know where those clouds came from or what they mean, but no rain fell or is anticipated.
Today is the last official day of Spring. The Summer Solstice occurs Wednesday at 7:58 a.m.
A couple years ago, I rescued a sad and wilted Shasta daisy from the garden center and tended it with love and care. Since then, I’ve divided it into enough plants to fill an entire bed under the dining room windows.
It wasn’t at all reticent about outgrowing container after container until I had no choice but to allow it to freely spread.
Named after the snowy peaks of Mount Shasta in California, the perennial Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) seems to be extremely hardy.
Once established, they are vigorous growers and easily spread via rhizomes. They make lovely cut flowers, but I also learned these daisies are toxic to dogs and cats.
They’re not shy about how bold and beautiful they are!
I’m so excited! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a Red Admiral butterfly. I had installed a solar powered fountain in the pond only minutes before when this little guy came to visit and take a drink. After that, he spread his wings on the sun warmed rocks and I was able to get a good look.
I hope he hangs around for a while…I’ll try to capture better photos if I see him again.
The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) has much more black than the Monarch. It has a black upper forewing with a bright, diagonal red-orange band across it and spots of white on the tips. It also has a red marginal band on its hindwing and the underside is a mottled brown.
I found a poem about this butterfly and had to share. I wasn’t able to learn a lot about the poet, David Wood, but I certainly do like his poems!
Sonnet 68: Red Admiral
Patrolling small stretches of the hedgerow
Like a silent sentry on guard duty,
Other butterflies they will overthrow;
The Red Admiral, nature’s real beauty.
Seen fluttering throughout summers hot days
From buddleia to Michaelmas daisies,
And sheltering from the suns golden rays,
All the people will sing of their praises.
But they cannot survive the winter’s cold
Their life is all too brief, a crying shame:
Alas none of them will ever grow old
Their short life is all part of nature’s game.
Their beauty we cannot take for granted
For they are delicately enchanted.
Since it’s just about time to honor June’s Full Moon, it seems like the perfect opportunity to chat about Moonstone Beach, another sea glass location I need to visit. It’s in Cambria on California’s Central Coast.
It’s said that at Moonstone Beach beach you can find moonstone agates plus jade, jaspers, and other semi-precious stones.
Here’s a photo of some of my beach glass collection. Red is the third most rare type of sea glass, and I only have a couple pieces of that color.
Did you know? Orange is the most rare sea glass color. Turquoise is the second most rare color and the rarest type of blue sea glass. Red is the third most rare sea glass color and yellow is the fourth. I guess white and green and brown are more common to find because I have a lot of those colors, probably because most bottles were crafted in those colors.
None of the beaches around me have sea glass OR many seashells, although we have an abundant and endless supply of ROCKS.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 