I have a rare quiet day today to enjoy the garden and catch up on some chores. The sun is bright, but not hot, and it feels so good to be outside. The gardens are almost in full bloom, and I'm starting to harvest herbs for locally grown Half Wild products. Look for some new salves and toners coming later in the summer, and for now, enjoy this wander through the garden.
The bearded irises are luminous in the afternoon sunshine today.
The flush of roses has begun! Rosa rugosa blooms all season, until the first frost, but for a few weeks in June, the volume of blooms is much greater. Each day, I handpick rose chafer pests from the plants, then harvest the rose petals, and finally prune off yesterday’s spent blossoms to encourage more blooms. These rose petals are the star of Half Wild Rosewater Toner, leaving skin soft and silky.
Pineapple weed volunteers in the most difficult of places — the driveway! This local relative of chamomile smells delicious and always makes me smile when I step out of my car.
The yarrow is getting ready to bloom. Soon, I will be harvesting for Green Wonder Salve and Herbal Bug Spray.
The comfrey is gorgeous and in full bloom — feeding pollinators and my soul. I will soon be harvesting the first stalks for Green Wonder Salve and other new salves making their debut this year.
The valerian is reaching for the sun today. Tall and stately, these plants pop up all over the garden — even right out of the lawn! A strong medicine, in more ways than one.
This Siberian iris has a visitor.
Some of the Siberian irises have been popping up white with yellow highlights. The surprises never cease when Mother Nature is at the wheel.
A patch of daisies volunteering in the lawn. Who has the heart to mow these days?
White bedstraw in full bloom and carpeting some of the nearby fields.
The peonies are blooming! The peonies are blooming!
And one more peony on its way.
