but first, a word from our garden.

We arrived home from a wonderful family vacation in the city of Montreal early last night. It was a wonderful experience that I feel grateful to have had.  I have many photos from the trip to share and tales to tell, but what is more striking to me at this moment is what is happening in my garden.  Walking through my garden and discovering all of its changes is what made coming home really feel like coming home.  

The garden is coming into its full summer splendor, and I feel very rewarded for the work that has been put into bringing it all together. For three summers now we have been waiting for these hollyhocks to bloom, and here they are with all indication showing that they will be blooming for weeks to come.

When my now three year old was just learning to speak to us in words, and quite tuned into color, he asked me over and over to plant him black flowers. We searched all over town looking for black flowers and never found them.  Our garden was new, so we were filling it up with lots of annuals, and I thought surely a deep purple petunia or something would be waiting for us- but nothing! Nothing but seeds . . . .

We found heirloom hollyhock seeds that promised rich dark booms. Knowing it would take a long time to see these blooms, we bought them anyway and cared for them together. We watched them struggle along all that summer and I was never sure they would make it.

The next summer, they came back and grew, and become bigger, stronger and sturdier, but no blooms to be enjoyed. But now, 3 summers later - what a sight to behold. I love how the pollen just drips onto the petals like flecks of gold. 

The waiting only makes them more special to see, and that now 3 1/2 year old boy is proud of his black hollyhocks he planted when he was just a baby. They aren't exactly black, but they do cast a dark shadow from a distance and are almost as black as you get in flower world.  

It wasn't just the hollyhocks that made me feel so welcome, 

other blooms and bugs were waiting for me too :)  

You can click on these to see them larger than life, and I tell you- 

that is one cute little grass hopper sitting on top of the chamomile daisy.

The wind was blowing so nicely today, 

I had to hold this nasturtium in place so that you could see the lovely design of the flower 

and its fascinating little teeth. The nasturtium flower is an edible treat as well, but I'll let mine mature fully so that I have lots of little nasturtium seeds for next year! 

And last but not least, the first of the thumbelina zinnias to bloom, a new seed for us.  

All such lovely things to come home to. Home Sweet Home indeed.