Everything is early here this summer with all the rain we have had. Nothing is the same. It’s raining now, as a matter of fact. It is what it is, as it is said, and it is wet. 
 
I’m not complaining. We awaken to temperatures in the mid sixties and “swelter” in mid eighty heat later in the afternoon when the sun hopefully shines and thunderstorms threaten to chase us off the deck where in umbrella shaded comfort we enjoy a long awaited summer’s outdoor blessing. 
 
Flower beds are out of control. Weeds are winning but blooming things hold your attention with blazing displays of indescribable beauty. There is so much that I have to remind myself, when I am out and about, to look for longer than a glance to absorb the magic for which these plants were set out in the first place.

This little 2 1/2 inch flower of the rubeccia family which includes the common Black Eyed Susan grows at the end of stalks that are reaching ten feet into the eve region of the house. This specimen was dug for us by a friendly greenhouse woman. It is seen against the sids of old barns throughout New England. Butterflies love it.

Lilies are in abundance here. Their beauty is poetical and prolific. Each bloom lives only a day and then is replaced by a sibling until all are gone. Then a later blooming relative comes in to replace it until the huge clump out front that produces a shower of huge yellow heads holds on into September. For the effort, these wonderful plants give so much more beauty.

For a defining perspective here is the rubeccia from below. Large cupping leaves that convinces one early on that the flower to come must be of at least salad plate size. 
 
These are phone images and so do not have the resolution I would prefer, but it was all I had at the moment. 
 
Such beauty in a world gone mad with bloodlust in the name of : take your choice: politics, religion, ignorance and I can’t help it – stupidity. 
 
Go beauty unbridled and blanket the earth. Persist until your song is universally sung. Appear where least expected. Hold on beyond expectation. In your fullness persuade our hearts. 
 
GBH