Daylilies reign supreme in the garden during the sultry months of July and August. On this last day of August, the flowers of my summer garden are putting on their final show. Daylilies have moved out of the spotlight giving the hydrangeas and zinnias their chance to shine, but here’s a little sampling of their beautiful performance.
Somewhere in Fitchburg Wisconsin there is a barefoot gardener standing in her flowerbeds giving the 2025 daylily performance a standing ovation.
“Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” ~ Luke 12:27 (ESV)
Flowers blooming in our garden are one of my favorite things to photograph. To my eye, even the buds just waiting to open hold a special kind of beauty. The too numerous to count buds intrigue me with the anticipation of the beauty yet to come as they await their unfurling. If the buds whisper His name, the glorious unfurling of the blooms shouts and cries out, “See! See my design? Take a look at the intricacy of my petals! Take a deep breath and bask in my aroma! Praise be to God, the Master Designer and Creator!”
Throughout the summer I have been spending snippets of time reading a beautifully written devotional, The Well-Watered Woman–Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith, by Gretchen Saffles. The pictures she paints with her words make me feel like Gretchen is walking me through a garden and pointing out spiritual truths to be gleaned, much as Jesus did as He walked with his disciples.
“Waiting for flowers to bloom brought anticipation to my heart after a season of loss. Each day I looked forward to checking for signs of change. Through that process of slow growth, God showed me that sorrow and darkness don’t last forever. Even in death, God can bring about life.”
Gretchen Saffles, The Well-Watered Woman
“The well-watered woman doesn’t put off living as she waits for “someday,” she knows her mission is now and she lives with Gospel purpose guiding her every step.”
~ Gretchen Saffles, The Well-Watered Woman
“As we behold the beauty of God in Scripture and in creation, our hearts are sparked to praise his name, both now and forever. Every sunrise, every sunset beckons us to set aside distractions to enjoy the best part—praising our faithful, righteous, steadfast, glorious God.”
“In our quest for a fruitful life, it’s important to remember that blooms aren’t continuous. They come and go, but that doesn’t mean the moments in between are unnecessary or less important. Blooms result from the faithful labor done in the planting, the rooting, the growing, and the waiting. You can’t enjoy a flower without the long process that brought it to that point.”
Stumbled upon some photos I took back in February of 2024. In Wisconsin, February is generally not known for Spring-like weather, but that’s just what we got during the second week of the month. How wonderful it felt to have the sun shining on me as I puttered about in my flowerbeds. It seemed to me that the animal kingdom was sensing the return of spring, with a nearby pond filled with geese returning from their winter migration.
Our locust tree seemed to decide to shower us with more than the usual boatload of seed pods. Since the weather was warm and relatively dry, I spent a little time raking and filling big Rubbermaid bins with the unsightly mess. Four bins to be exact. The next day my hubby joined me in raking up seed pods, creating two very large piles. Apparently, there is a name for this overzealousness in producing seed pods–it’s called a “mast seeding event” and can be attributed to our wacky winter weather.
It’s a yearly battle. Now, two years later, we’re creeping up on the month of August, and my frequent weeding adventures still yield numerous seed pods and little locust seedlings.
I will admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed by this tree’s propensity for making a mess. Then, I survey the plants beneath it happily thriving in its dappled shade, and I’m a little less annoyed by the inconvenience.
Our locust tree
It’s pretty warm and humid outside today, so I sit on my garden bench and take a little break from weeding. As if in apology for all the mess, the locust tree hugs me with its cooling shade as I sit beneath its branches enjoying the peace of my little backyard.
Just a little splash of Clematis love coming from our July garden.
Clematis ‘Prince Charles’
I would describe the color of Clematis ‘Prince Charles’ as lilac-blue. My husband dug this clematis up for me earlier this summer and then rehomed it in a spot about 2 feet away so that it wouldn’t have to reach so far toward this backyard arbor. I call this handsome guy “Charlie” as it is planted to remind me of my oldest grandson, Charlie.
Clematis ‘Comtesse de Bouchard’
Clematis ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’ is most definitely a gorgeous showstopper gracing the south-facing front of our house. We gave her a bigger trellis a year or two ago, but it looks like we may need to upsize again in the near future. “Comtesse” is the French word for countess, a female member of nobility. This lovely lady is definitely regal.
A closer look at lovely Clematis ‘Comtesse de Bouchard’
Another view of ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’ earlier this summer–just loaded with buds waiting to burst into glorious bloom. I just love her six-petaled rosy-pink (almost lavender) blossoms with creamy yellow stamens.
Clematis ‘Sunset’
The petals of profusely flowering Clematis ‘Sunset’ are a stunning, velvety purple with streaks of sunset red radiating from her beautiful creamy white anthers. She’s a reliable repeat bloomer, but I’m going in with my pruning shears this week to snip out spent flowers to encourage a stronger repeat bloom.
Pretty in pink Clematis ‘Princess Diana’ is charming and super-happy this summer. I have her planted in full sun on both the southwest and southeast sides of our home. Though not technically a climber, I’ve trained her to the arbor at the entrance to our backyard.
My “Lady Charlotte”
Before life with Alzheimer’s necessitated moving my sweet momma out of her home, I took a digging of clematis from her lovely garden. I never found a tag for it, but think it just might be Clematis ‘Multi-Blue.’ This beauty has scrambled up one side of the arbor at the entrance to the backyard for almost 10 years now. I call her ‘Lady Charlotte’ in remembrance of momma, and hope that she will one day meet up with ‘Princess Diana’ regally scrambling up the other side.
That’s a wrap for my Six on Saturday from hot and humid Southern Wisconsin this Saturday. To enjoy the world garden tour visit our Six on Saturday host Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk
The peony love continues in my Wisconsin garden with Peony ‘Gold Standard’ taking center stage today. The frilly central bomb of golden yellow staminodes is a perfect jewel to accent the sweet creamy white guard petals of the Japanese-form blossoms.
Peony (Paeonia x lactiflora ‘gold standard’)
Two of these beauties grace my mailbox garden. Their arresting beauty and light fragrance stop passersby in their tracks. Like most peonies, she enjoys basking in full sun, but would be just fine in part shade.
Her annual show begins in late May or early June with each beautiful blossom lasting a week or two.
It’s always a bit sad when her floral show ends, so I usually cut a few of the unopened buds to save in my fridge. I choose buds that have a little marshmallow-like squish to them, then wrap a few of them up in a dampened paper towel, slip them into a Ziplock bag, then store them in a refrigerator drawer.
The “marshmallow squish” test
A few weeks later, I remove a stem or two from the bag, give the stem end a fresh cut, then display it in a bud vase and wait for the petals to open. It’s definitely worth the effort to extend the ‘peony love’ out for a few more weeks.
We got into a friendly lunch table debate on the proper pronunciation of a plant that’s taking center stage in my garden right now. The lovely lady known as Clematis.
Clematis Boulevard ‘Samaritan Jo’
Any way you pronounce it, Clematis ‘Samaritan Jo’ has proven herself to be a stunningly beautiful addition to the southeast corner of our home.
Stepping outside my door this chilly morning donned in a cozy flannel shirt and my garden visor was an absolute pleasure. Taking notice of the glorious array of spring flowers in my neighborhood brought me 40 minutes of great joy. Let me share with you a little peek at some of the beauty I most enjoyed.
Daffodil Frills
Dainty daffodils Tiny and sweet Such pretty frills
My yard is less than a half acre, but heavily planted with flowerbeds. It keeps me busy in July with digging, dead heading, and dividing. The time has come in my life as a gardener where I have to admit that I need help with the gardening tasks.
Thankfully, Henry (grandson #2), loves his grandma and enjoys helping me in my garden. He also enjoys earning a little pocket money.
Today’s task was digging out the orange ditch lilies which are usurping more than their fair share of flowerbed real estate. I really appreciate his joyful help.
Henry is the world’s best at carefully deadheading spent daylily blossoms.
He also had a little fun with soapsud mustaches as he washed my car.
Come with me for a little tour of lovely purple-y blossoms in my flower garden.
One of my mom’s irises now blooming beautifully in my garden. Earlier this Spring, Allium looked sweet popping up Willy-nilly in my sunny flowerbedsMomma’s Clematis on my ArborIris ‘Batik’Iris ‘Honky-Tonk Blues’ is a reliable re-bloomer. An iris I have dubbed ‘Beth’s Favorite’ in honor of my daughter Beth. Violas, or ‘Johnny Jump-Up’s’ have been re-seeding themselves for yearsA timeless beauty—Clematis ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’ is bursting with pinkish-lavender flowers. Love it!Another view of gorgeous Clematis ’Comtesse de Bouchard’I believe this is Iris ‘Autumn Circus’Iris ‘Edith Wolford’ (and a busy bee)Edith, again…such a beauty. I call these gals my ‘Carolinda’ irises — shared from the gardens of my two sweet aunts, Carolyn and LindaI have a love-hate relationship with Spiderwort. It stays because it’s beautiful…and because it refuses to leave.Love the lavender fluff in the center of this white spiderwort!Clematis ‘Prince Charles’
No post featuring the color purple (my mom’s favorite color) would be complete without a photo of one of her blue flowerpots brimming with purple and white supertunias.
Supertunias in Momma’s blue potOn second thought—I think I will end this purple flower show with a photo of my sweet, purple -lovin’ momma.
Every now and again I spot an old chair forlornly sitting at the curb. Someone didn’t want it, so they left it there in the hopes that someone else would want it.
This is one of those chairs that came home with me.
Chair Garden 2024
I made a succulent garden in this roadside treasure chair last summer too. It was so lovely.
2023’s Chair Garden
I can’t wait to see how this year’s chair garden fills out. I’m already enamored with its beauty. I’ll keep you posted.
Barefoot Lily Lady 