We've been blessed with a lot of rain this week! After years of extreme drought, this is wonderful, even if it does make getting the grass cut a bit more difficult. All of our plants and trees and our birds have been loving the rain. Kathryn told me, "God really did do a great job of planning everything, because there are lots of thunderstorms in the summer, and the flowers bloom in summer, so that's when they need the rain." 
Our sunflower seeds have sprouted! Yippee! And Kathryn's little coneflower seedling is growing very slowly, it seems, but we were thrilled it survived a drowning rain of an unexpected heavy downpour. The daylillies are still blooming, the lantana is growing well, and the mums and our purple butterfly bush both began blooming this week! The big coneflowers in our garden started blooming last week, as did the crepe myrtle by the front of the house. Somehow, in previous years I had never noticed that the bright pink blooms also have quite a bit of yellow in them. Kathryn and I looked closely, and realized that what we thought were several flowers was really one flower, and she pointed out right away where the pollen is! Can you see all the little flower parts! [click the photo to enlarge]
Out in the veggie garden, we have had two tomatoes so far, and many more are getting ready to ripen. We picked our first zucchini squash today, and we're fascinated by the pretty squash blossoms that are only open in the morning; by afternoon, they close tight.
Tucked under one of our tomato plants, we found a lovely surprise: a "volunteer" wishbone flower! That metal in the photo (below) is part of the tomato cage. It seems to be thriving!
That's how my garden grows right now! I do hope you have a garden to enjoy, too!
