Earthly Delights

Our yard is the scruffiest on our block, but it's slowly shaping up. It will never be Versaille, but there are things I love about it. The ceanothus above is completely covered in bees this time of year. When you stand within ten feet of it you can hear the gregarious hum of dozens of bees busy in the flowers. When they finally wither, the tiny petals fall to the ground like confetti.

We went to a local nursery and bought lots of random plants - herbs, flowers, veggies - all to be planted together for more randomness. I like it that way best: tomatoes growing beside geraniums, sage mixing with the petunias. I also like the way random colors blend together as they all grow. I've never been a matchy-matchy kind of girl; asymmetry is so much more interesting. It's why I have five earrings instead of four.

I also love dwarf irises. This patch of white has spread quite a bit over the years. The blue-violet irises are all but spent. There is so much to look forward to as the season progresses. When the irises are all done the gladdies will be budding out and when their spears droop and the flowers turn to dust the trees will be covered in berries - orange for the hawthorne, red for the dogwoods, pink and orange for the red cascade.