Hot and humid are the watchwords for this June Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Daylilies and grasses don't mind though I do when I go out to weed the garden. The air is so heavy I can hardly breathe. From just deadheading today's daylilies, I'm soaked in sweat. Deadheading requires very little exertion so you can tell how humid it is. Hemerocallis Nancy Ann Kinnett I wrote that paragraph yesterday. This morning I awoke to raindrops pelting the skylights above my bed. The rain didn't amount to much, barely a trace, but it did bring down morning temperatures. I am grateful. Hemerocallis 'Navajo Pony' has a wonderful eyezone and a beautiful green throat. Since June is always about the daylilies in my garden, I'm going to try to show you some of my newer cultivars this year. This is the ninth year of the blog, and while gardens do change, they stay...

In no particular order, our next stop on our England travelogue after Sissinghurst Castle is Hever Castle --pronounced "Heever"--in Edenbridge, Kent. Did you know Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn? Although Boleyn's life ended badly because she married King Henry VIII, her former home is a fairy-tale castle complete with a drawbridge, walled bailey and moat. The original castle was constructed in 1270, but it played a powerful role in the 15th and 16th centuries. Hever Castle framed by a blue sky. Later owners made amendments to the castle like a secret place to celebrate mass. Things were turbulent during the Tudor years, and it shows inside the castle walls. Inside the keep at Hever Castle. This was as far as I could go inside to take photos. Unfortunately, they don't allow photographs inside, but Catholic, Protestant, Catholic, Protestant, the castle followed England's history pretty closely. Here are some photos of the interior from...

For those of you who don't know, Bill and I took a little trip to LONDON and PARIS!! Can you see me dancing a happy dance? To use another worn metaphor I'm still dancing on air. A vignette in an old concrete planter. There were two of these along this wall. Sitting here, a cup of tea at hand, and trolling through my photos, I'm still pinching myself at how fortunate I was to go. It took 53 years, but I walked in merry old England. Hop houses at Sissinghurst. We were in hops-growing country. Beer is an important commodity in England although grapes are starting to get a foothold too with the warmer weather. My next several posts will be a travelogue, and I'm starting with my favorite place, Sissinghurst Castle. I was going to build up to Sissinghurst, but then, I thought, nah. Famous blue gate at Sissinghurst. If you're a watcher of...

I didn't make it on time to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day this month because we had a graduation for one child on May 15, and a banquet for another on Sunday The Diva, Megan, graduated with her Masters Degree in Social Work and Bear, Claire, who is now seventeen--can you believe it--had her choral banquet. If we're friends on Facebook, you saw way too much of my family last weekend. May is pretty much the graduation parade on Facebook though isn't it? Fun to see all these "kids" grow up and move on into their lives. Makes me a bit melancholy too. Part of 'Peggy Martin' rose and the garden beyond. It's almost finished blooming after four weeks. A chilly May with gray skies doesn't help my mood either. I need the warmth of the sun. In August, please don't remind me that I wrote this. I will be way tired...