Heat + Light = Blooms

Summer is here! It's hot and sunny, with just enough of a breeze to keep it from sweltering. After working in the yard during the morning, it just got too hot to go back out after lunch. Our thermometer says it is 86F, it's in a shady nook on the northeast side of the house. I don't doubt that it's 90+ in the sun, as was forcasted. Thankfully the house stays a cool & perfect 75 inside, at least downstairs. Upstairs tends to get a bit warmer, but once we get blinds installed on the south & west windows (more on that project later) it should stay fairly cool as well.

I'm not complaining about the heat though, after this long rainy spring we're really ready for some sunshine! The garden and flowerbeds are making up for lost time. Since it's too hot to do any actual work, I decided to take pictures of the flowers and share them here. :)

This is a dahlia grown from tubers that Grandma Joy gave me last fall, after she'd dug hers. It's only just begun to bloom, but already it's stealing the show in the front flower bed.

The Daylillies that Keeley gave me may give the dahlia a run for their money though. This is the first one to actually bloom, but there are a lot more stems out there.
This is the borage that Kriss gave me, it's gotten huge and is starting to produce it's lovely blue shooting-star flowers. They are edible, but so far I'm mostly just enjoying looking at them.

A surprising number of these snapdragons overwintered from last season. I grew them from seed that my cousin Jess saved from her garden. I just love their pugilistic faces.

The wild Nootka roses are finally starting to bloom as well. We have the latest blooming roses in the area, I think. It seems like the roses along the road into town are all over before ours even get started. The bees are really enjoying these blossoms today, the whole hedge of them is buzzing with activity.

Not all the blooms are strictly ornamental. The zuchini and summer squash are also taking advantage of the warm weather and flowering like crazy. We've even got one zuc that's already nearly large enough to harvest!

Once we get a fair number of set squash, I'll start harvesting some of the blossoms for eating. It's one of my favorite summer breakfast treats, batter-fried squash blossoms. Mmm!