Summer. A plentiful time of year that is full of possibilities. Where the air warms and the sun glows. The days grow longer and so does the greenery.
Our summer is growing to a close and the time for the garden duties don't stop. It is the time to prune back and prepare our plants for the coming of the Winter rains. Today Sage and Lavender were pruned back to encourage bushier, branching growth next Spring. The pruned plants will divert the upwards growth back into the plant as the top 2/3 of the fresh Summer growth has been trimmed back and no longer there to support. This leaves us with the top portion of leaves to do with as we wish.
I have a small sage plant, freshly planted this Spring but it has produced such bountiful green growth over the Summer months and I was left with a cupful, or rather, sand bucket full of fresh leaves. Some will be put to dry for use on Winter turkey dinners and a few sprigs will be left to a water cup in the windowsill to sprout new roots for more Sage plants to grow!
I wish I could share the scent of the plants with you through the screen. Fresh herbs are a favorite of mine
The bottom portion of leaves removed from the stalk so that the stems can produce a bushel of new roots to create a whole new plant!
The stems rest in a small glass of water to grow new roots, which will be transported to the dirt pots in the Spring to grow healthy new plant. I would like to have at least two plants of each so one may be left to flower for the bees as the bees love the small purple flower and I love the bees.
Sage leaves so close you can taste them! The texture on the leaves are spectacular!
A small lemon from my Meyer Lemon tree. It was small as a pea and will be sand cast into a charm. This yellow beauty rests on a Lambs Ear leaf. I love the color.
Lady beetles. I remember as a child seeing Ladybugs all the time. They were one of the few bugs that I wouldn't mind and one year a whole Lovliness of Ladybugs, a cluster of them among the fall leaves. The whole ground was moving with them and it was the first and ever time I had seen so many of them in one place.
Coneflowers in the breeze, waving up to the blue Summer Sky. This is not my garden, but my friends down the way. She has so much beauty and oftentimes I am gifted with the opportunity to tend her garden as she is away on holidays. It is so quiet and peaceful there, I relinquish in the solitude.
What an interesting summer we've had this year and thankful for the bounty our garden showed to us.
