How is your garden growing this week? We have had so much rain there has been no need to water. Everything is green, green, green. Well, except for a few patches of dead grass in the lawn.
I am trying to make the Marian names of flowers stick in my head this year. Seems I have to re-learn them every year so I will include them in this post to exercise my failing memory!
Here are the morning glories (Our Lady's Mantle) this week - still making progress.
New blooms this week are the day lilies (St. Joseph's Lily)
Daisies
Scabious (Mary's Pincushion)
Shrub Roses
Spiderwort (Our Lady's Tears)
All the dampness has fostered the growth of these cup shaped mushrooms
Also in the garden - the remnants of the fairy tea party and outdoor ballroom the children assembled for Midsummer's Eve. The table is set -
a bark path leads to
a fairy ring for dancing
I've been refreshing my memory on Midsummer traditions as well with All Year Round: a Christian Calendar of Celebrations. In a nutshell: Midsummer's Day is not on the solstice, but on the birthday of St. John the Baptist.
At a time when nature rushes on, relentlessly pursuing her goal of fruiting and seeding, we are challenged by St. John to pause, reassess our intentions and the direction of our life. He asks us to straighten and balance the landscape of our soul.
And the fairy connection?
The summer entices us into a fairyland of lazy, dreamy days, of sweet fruits and carefree living . . . Many folk tales warn of the danger of getting caught up in the Midsummer revelries of fairyland. If we are to avoid 'Midsummer madness' we must not stray from the path that keeps our feet on solid ground.
So we let the fairies have their fun. We watched the moon rise and went to bed.
Summer joys are transient: the days grow shorter and the year's path leads on towards midwinter and Christmas - the Festival of Birth.
Other customs include bonfires of purification (we lack a backyard fire pit), lunch in the garden (too hot and humid that day), fruits (we did make a fruit bread pudding), and allowing children to stay up all night (never in this family!).
There are instructions for making a gold spiral mobile that I would love to make if I can ever find double sided gold foil. Gold like the sun, the motion of outward moving inward - a reminder that the days will now grow shorter and lead to Christ's birth. Prepare ye the way of the Lord!
So how does your garden grow? Leave a comment if you are posting and check my shared items box for posts by others who are joining in and sharing garden photos on Fridays!
