Fog, moss, lichen, stones. Welcoming summer with a touch of wonder

If I were looking for treasure, my bet would be to dig right here.  

The table looks lovely.  Let the solstice celebration begin.

I've seen birch trees, willow trees, maple trees.  But this is the first tired tree I've seen.

These aren't your wicked witches poppies. Ahhhhhhhhh, so sleepy all of a sudden.

Gotta post these before I fall asleep.  

Sweet, sweet poppies.

Enchanted is as Enchanted Does

The last few years have been a little traumatic for the garden.  The loss of the elm tree that gave the garden lovely, cool shade and the subsequent yanking out and rearranging of many a plant gave the garden and its resident gardener much pause. (Maybe even a touch of fear and dread on the part of the plants.)  So this year we are taking a break.  Mostly weeding, deadheading, just making sure things look sort of tidy.  More time for enjoying the magic of what copious amounts of rain mixed with equal amounts of summer sun can do to transform the frozen tundra of just a few months ago.  Amazing.  

The rain has encouraged the mushrooms to take a stand.  Little communities just pop up during the night.  And then collapse in a puff the next day.

There are two photos of this one because I can't decide which one I like best.  I'll let you choose your favorite for yourself.

I peeked inside the foxglove.  

And someone peeked back.

Rain, rain, does make the flowers grow

I haven't had to water the garden yet this year.  Lots of wonderful rainwater, natural lovely rainwater, is doing wonders for the garden.  Because of the late start to the spring, the tulips and the irises were all blooming at once.  The columbine too.  It was as if I had a bunch of fireworks out there and someone threw a match and lit them all at once.  Beautiful, but I hope the rest of the summer can somehow compete.  

Here are the last of the tulips and a few other beauties too.  

Sun Trumps Rain

I liked those raindrops.  They enchanted me and opened up a little underworld I never knew existed.  But I just have to say, sun trumps rain. 

Raindrops Gone Wild

I know that raindrops look beautiful on petals and leaves.  Some garden photographers even spray the garden down before they take photos to capture the added beauty of the water clinging to the petals.  It rained again last night, so I decided to head out and find some pretty raindrops. 

I am still in the very beginning stages of learning how to use my new macro equipment. Today I added a new macro lens filter and went out to see what I could find.  I learned a bit about some of the adjustments I will have to make for future ventures with this filter.  But the images I captured, although a bit grainy, still revealed some garden magic.

I found the raindrops.  They were so tenacious and so incredibly tiny.  I was amazed by them. So glad I plopped myself right down amongst the mayhem.  Although my jeans ended up a bit damp, I feel I was justly rewarded.

I call this one Ridiculous.