Blossoms and Leaves

Coleus at its finest.

In the early spring of this year I started a few seeds. It was something for me to do that frankly was to distract me at the beginning of this pandemic.

It actually gave me a weird focus to look after these tiny seedlings and marvel at what came up. I’d start my day looking at them and actually talking to them — as strange as that sounds!

Moon flowers at night.

We now fast forward to today at the end of August. Our balcony is truly a jungle! What started as tiny pin pricks of green are now Coleus that reach my chest! Tiny moon flowers that I actually wondered if they would survive have covered the walls and hidden the water feature! Each evening they unfurl milky white fragrant blossoms. We wait for them and marvel at them.

Marigolds going mad!

My one experiment with peppers has started yielding tiny peppers that I’m hoping mature into something we actually can eat! Marigolds flower two feet tall — something I’ve never seen!

Honey bees in the Coreopsis.

We have old fashioned honey bees out grazing on the pollen of the Coreopsis daisies thinking they are in a cottage garden.

Canna lilies have grown this year taller and thicker than ever before. In the late afternoon the sun lights up their striped leaves like stained glass.

Canna lillies.

Our balcony garden has given me more satisfaction this year than any year before. Its lushness has been my refuge and a place to read — or drink a lot of wine!

There is nothing as satisfying as growing your own blossoms and leaves. I’m going to enjoy its bounty as long as weather permits.