Bonjour!
As we approach the end of August, yards are starting to look a little crispy and gardens a little shaggy. But many flowers are still blooming and the trees still have leaves, so I try to enjoy what splendor of the summer season remains. I come from a long matrilineal line of green thumbs and enjoy gardening as a form of self-care. Today’s post shares some shots of les fleurs dans le jardin.
Sunrise over the pond behind the new house. The ducks and geese love lounging under the Whomping Willow. Yes, I was up early (le sigh), but I got to enjoy this quiet moment.
A delightful surprise: a plush bed of black-eyes Susans, a perennial bloom that is part of the daisy family. When L’Husband and I were house hunting, they hadn’t bloomed yet, so I was très excitée to see this hearty crop! When cut, they stay fresh in clean water for over a week, so we have cut flowers all over la maison.
One of the first things I did in the garden when La Famille moved in to our new home was put out the hummingbird feeder. L’Husband loves hummingbirds to the point that he has a special hummingbird dance he does when he sees one.
And the little blighters are eating us out of house and home (or at least sugar syrup). Two males immediately found the feeder and wile away their days stalking it and chasing each other.
This picture is nice and crisp due to the powerful camera on the brand-new iPhone 12 Mini I got a few days ago after an unfortunate incident with my old phone and the washing machine. Merde and le sigh encore.
And, for good measure, a naughty dachshund. Reposting this shot of Le Chien luxuriating sur l’herbe (paging Édouard Manet) because I can. He’s hanging out in front of some coneflowers and Russian sage (that I thought was la lavande due to the similar fragrance, zut alors!).
The pollinators love these blooms and we have quite le buzz of many species of bees, dragonflies, and butterflies. I’m happy to know le jardin helps support local ecology and the environment.
How are you enjoying the last days of summer?
Merci for reading and please subscribe and share!
À votre santé,
Katie
Joie de Vivre 
I love your garden Katie, it looks awesome. The Whomping Willow, I had to look that one up, you can see I am not a Harry Potter follower even though I read the first two books. Still have to do the rest. That aside, my favourite tree is the Weeping Willow and this one looks a lot like it 😉
And oh, hummingbirds, aren’t they the cutest!? I have seen them on our trip to Canada and after a lot of patient waiting I managed to get at least one decent picture of one of them. Would love to see George’s hummingbird dance by the way!
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Thank you for reading, Winnie! In English we call this tree a weeping willows normally. The Whomping Willow appears in book three of the Harry Potter series. I wonder what it translates to in Dutch? 🇳🇱😁
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Ah I see, that’s why I didn’t know, never got to read the third book. In Dutch a weeping willow is called Treurwilg (mourning willow) and a whomping willow is called beukwilg (pounding willow)
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I love the word for whomping willow!
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