Flowers Galore, Flowers Everywhere!

Just when I thought the flower season was about over, the pink Rose Mallows burst into full, gigantic bloom:

And then, about five days later, the red Rose Mallows began to bloom also:

They are planted up on a rise and next to the county road, where they draw a lot of attention by passersby:

And right next to the Rose Mallows are the two new Morden Roses. This one is Morden Sunrise:

And this one is Morden Blush:

Wildflowers bloomed too, including these Common Mallows at the south end of the barn:

And Lady's-Thumb Smartweed, also at the south end of the barn:

All other Day Lilies seem to have quit blooming, but these wild type are mixed in with my Peonies and are blooming with astoundingly vivid colors:

Not all flowers, however, are welcome. In spite of having been cut down twice, Many Canada Thistles are flowering in the pasture and along the fence line:

I was working on the electric fence and kept seeing these odd wildflowers. They were minuscule flowers with long "fingers" at the top of the plant:

I got a closeup of the flowers and buds to help me identify them when I got back to the house. At first I gave up, finding nothing like them, but then changed my mind and restored them from my Trash file to an active photo file. I finally identified them as Willow-Herb:


Unfortunately, I could tell which species - until I realized the obvious by looking at the bottom leaves. These were Purple-Leaved Willow Herb, a plant I'd never noticed before:

Around The Farm In July

The white fantail pigeons get all excited when I refill their food and water each night. They crowd around the two feeders and one waterer as if they think I might have put vodka in the water and yummy bird seed in their feeders. Alas, it's always the same old chicken feed and water - but they are happy anyway:

And a number of pairs are nesting nicely:

A few (like this one) use the cake pans I provided for them, some use the shelves, and some insist on nesting on the floor, usually in a place which is inconvenient for me:

The hens all crowd into their favorite nest box to lay their eggs:

Luckily, they all get along well. There's never any fighting:

Orange Asiatic Lilies began to bloom next to the Blue Sea Holly:

Now that I'm keeping the little horses in the barn all night, the floor gets a thick layer of hay and poop in short order. I clean it out with the tractor, then throw down some hay from the loft, above:

I then spread the sweet smelling hay over the floor and close the door just enough to let the horses in, but not the cows:

This wildflower grows outside the barn door each year. My field guide calls them Cheeses but I find that name awkward (plural or not plural, flower or dairy product?) so I found current articles which call them Common Mallow. I'll use that name from now on:

My photo of the flowers wasn't very good, so I got a better one from the internet. You can see they are in the Mallow family:

The mysterious Blue Sea Holly was slowly turning blue and getting bluer each day:

So one Sunday I cut some and put them in a vase with yellow Asiatic Lilies to take to church. Do you see the problem? The Blue Sea Holly turned green when it came into the house. When I took it back out into the sun, it was blue again. Many blue birds, like Indigo Buntings, are not really blue and only look that way when the sunlight reflects off them the right way. Alas, it appears that Blue Sea Holly is the same way:

In The Good Old Summertime

The Bush Cherry produced a nice crop of cherries, which I was able to eat this year, thanks to the bird netting:

 They were smaller than the tree cherries but still pretty darn tasty:

 My little garden produced a bumper crop of yellow Asiatic Lilies:

 And the Cliff Swallow parents have been tending to their nest although I still don't see or hear any babies in there:

 The Elderberries inside the old silo base had a rough winter and I hoped they'd survive. But they did more than survive - they flourished, producing a bumper crop of blossoms:

 Intricate, lacy Elderberry flowers:

 And Black-Eyed Susans burst into bloom all along the local roadsides:

 This weed has been growing around the barn for years, places where not much else would grow. It flowered this summer, allowing me to search for its identity. I finally found it, and learned that it is Common Mallow, a member of the Hibiscus or Mallow family:

 Sadly, the apple trees and flowering crab trees are sick, and dropping their leaves and fruit. The pear tree too is suffering, though not as badly:

 The cherry tree, however, did just fine:

 And the bantam hens are healthy and living a life of ease inside the barn where, I hope, they are safe from predators:

 I finally got two fantails pigeons to go outdoors but it was a hot day and I began to wonder if they were smart enough to get off the hot metal roof and back inside where they could cool off their feet. Happily, they were smart enough (after awhile):