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Day 18 of 31 Days of Summer Lovin’ 2016: Grow

| Jill

20160718 Blog Photo New Fonts

I took this photo yesterday of my tiger lilies using my iPhone.

The funny thing is, I never planted tiger lilies in my yard.

The flowers grew all by themselves in 2013. At that time, the single plant was about as tall as my shoulder.

In 2014, I had three tiger lily plants that grew, and last year, about 5 came up.

I’m now up to 8 plants scattered by nature in my flower beds.

Today’s photo depicts the original 2013 plant. It has grown to be 6 feet tall! It’s as tall as my husband and has more buds on it than ever.

I never had more than 2 flowers open at once. Today there are 6 open on the original plant, and the first bloom that opened dropped it’s first petal onto the ground.

I am grateful that these beauties decided to call my yard home.

 

Day 02 of 31 Days of Summer Lovin’ 2016: Bloom

| Jill

File_000Bloom. There are so many ways I interpret this word, but they all have the same action in common: coming out of a shell in order to live while displaying beauty. I’ve been awed by how many orange day lily blooms I’ve had bloom this summer…so many more than usual! Sadly, this beautiful orange display is ending its short exhibit, as I only have two buds left, and both should open today. But that’s nature, all in its own time. I tried to mirror the photography technique of my friend C when I took this picture the other night; this bloom was lit by the evening sun and stood out from the rest.

My sweet-smelling milkweed is also in full bloom today. In the past, I’ve had full milkweed blooms in the middle of May, but this year’s blooms didn’t open until this week…the latest ever. Additionally, A few years ago, I had a rogue tiger lily appear in my garden, and since, it has multiplied into several plants. This year, most of them are already taller than I am, and I’m 5′ 5″! They should be the next perennials to bloom.

I’m finding that I, myself, am undertaking the progress of blooming. I am coming out of my self-imposed shell of solitude in order to live, and my hope is that my words will be what displays the most beauty.  We’ll see.