Beauty is Where You Find It

Some days I look at the yard and just have to marvel at the beauty that it displays.  It seems that every year the wife starts the growing season with a boat-load of flowers--that I consider to be a sacrifice to the flower gods because they usually die before June--with dreams of a carpet of colorful flowers taking over the yard.  And, every year they start out slow in the months of June and July before taking off and overrunning the flower beds and yard.  Of course we have to go through the two months of lamenting and worry that nothing will ever happen--but it always does.  The garden has overtaken the yard and it is a sight to behold.  Beauty everywhere!

I am not much of a horticulturalist or a gardener--a flower is a flower to me.  Instead of knowing the names of the majority of the flowers that are planted in our gardens I know them by, well, by color.  Where the wife can whip out a name for the flower I know the flower by its color.  I especially like the bright colors in the garden--the yellow, orange, and pink flowers.  The flowers above are in the front yard of the house and provide a virtual jungle habitat for all the insects in the neighborhood--in particular bees and spiders!

Note the spider on the pretty pink flower!

Besides flowers in the garden this year we have some new additions.  The wife was inspired by all the garden stakes that she saw in Amish country in Pennsylvania and began a mission to have some for our garden.  She would not rest until she had a few for the garden here in Montana--in fact, two particular ones of owls and a moose.  Despite my desire to save a buck, and my relentless moaning and groaning when she spent the BUCKS, I have to admit that the two garden stakes really did add a cool dimension to the garden.  I really like the one of the owls.

 

As I stated earlier, the local insects really seem to find a sort of paradise with all the plants growing amuck in the garden and the yard.  The bees really seem to get a kick out of all the flowers, while the yellow jackets have a hankering for the apples off our apple tree.  We have three trees in our yard--an aspen, apple, and crab apple tree.  I really don't care for the two fruit trees after their blossoms are gone because they attract all the stinging insects.  But I know, you've got to have the insects--stingers or not--to keep everything in balance.

I really do enjoy those evenings when I can just walk around the garden and take pictures of the wife's flowers.  It is a peaceful feeling and I always seem to get some pretty cool pictures.  Here is a little of what I see:

Also adding to the late summer fun in the backyard sanctuary has been a new flock of finches.  It seems that the finches and gold finches have been busy in the early part of the summer and the results of their hard work is a whole new flock of young finches.  Lately they have discovered the bird feeders in the yard--especially the finch sack.  They have been snarfing down one sack a day and I have been able to watch the greenbacks fly out of my wallet at the same rate!  But they are entertaining and the gold finches are especially photogenic.

I cannot complain about the beauty that surrounds me in the yard.  There is beauty all around--especially when I take the time to stop and smell the flowers.  The wife (and I) have done a wonderful job of making a delightful habitat in the yard.  The birds appreciate it--the insects appreciate it--the deer appreciate it (especially in the early growing season)--and we appreciate it.  The pictures above are only a small sampling of what we have had growing in the yard this week--the wife's flowers and my weeds . . . an unbeatable combination!  Yep, beauty is where you find it even in the yard!