Flowers of Summer

Summer Flowers and Plants in the Garden

After too many days of gray skies and rain, the Sun is out and warming the soil and plants. Little flying insects have come back to life, along with the spiders and grubs that make their home in mine.

All those hours of improving the soil with coffee grounds and other material is offering a special reward.

Putting an onion into the ground and watching as a flower emerged is what brought me back to gardening, and it has such beautiful and delicate flowers.

A Zucchini flower is a delight to watch. So delicate and precise, and only made to last for a few days. These can also be eaten, and I’ve heard that they taste lovely when deep fried.

Parsley flowers are much like Dill flowers, and that makes sense seeing how they are family (along with carrots, celery, anise, and coriander). The seeds are very strong in flavour, and the plant itself only barley resembles those delicate leaves we associate with parsley.

This series of photos is from two sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). Both from the same packet, and one is small and the other is a monster. I’m putting the difference down to the quality of the soil. The large one is sitting in my last batch of coffee compost, which could make a metal pole grow leaves.

Able to hold it like a pet. As long as it stays where it is!

Marigold are delightful and essential in maintaining a healthy garden. They act as a pest deterrent and keep soil free of bad nematodes. They also take the hit when snails and slugs are on the march, leaving your vegetable plants to do what they do. They love coffee grounds and will accelerate their growth when you cut away dying flowers.

A nasturtium in flower – This is from the large sprawling one in plot 1. The benefits of this amazing plant are so many that you should consider a few your garden.

Cucumber in flower, doing nicely with some mint.

Tomatoes in flower hold the promise of the fruit to come!

These flowers are from the Lazy Bean Housewife, a heirloom variety I picked up from Diggers. A very good producer and every seed I planted took off.

A pumpkin flower is like a brute compared to its cousin the zucchini. Actually, everything about the pumpkin plant is like a brute compared to the zucchini.

A delightful display from an Eggplant (Aubergine).

And finally, lavender. Magical. Intoxicating.

I encourage you to get outside with a handful of used coffee grounds and see what is in flower. You might be surprised how much life is out there. And if there are really no flowers, put an onion in the ground 🙂

What kinds of flowers are you discovering in the garden?