This Summer in my Backyard

Special Dedication: These flowers for talented blogger and host of Cee’s Photo Challenges, and her partner Chris. Cee is recovering from a bad fall, but she still has managed to share some beautiful flowers from the garden at the rehabilitation facility where she is hard at work with her physiotherapy. Many other bloggers and friends have shown their support by linking their own pics as a Flower of the Day (FOTD), one of Cee’s popular challenges, so here is mine, too. Thanking Chris for her support, and for updating us, and wishing Cee the best for a speedy recovery!

I am also joining Six on Saturday for June 22, 2024, hosted by Jim Stephens @ Garden Ruminations.

I usually have most of my vegetable garden set up around this time, but this year my husband and I are doing some travelling during the growing season, so I decided to avoid the follies and skip annual crops, and just cultivate whatever was planted last fall, such as garlic, and my perennials, like the asparagus I harvested in the spring, berries, and the always reliable, herbs. Here are six that are thriving, thanks to – or in spite of, at this point – the hot weather we are experiencing here in Southern Ontario, Canada:

My English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is in bloom (photo at the top of this post), propagating quite nicely and gifting humans and pollinators alike, with fragrant nourishment. I cut fresh spikes to keep in small vases in the house, and save dried buds for cooking or potpourri bundles.

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla, German chamomile) has been in my garden for at least a decade, self-seeding and growing on its own. I love the scent, and it is my go-to tea to settle upset tummies or stressed minds. In the photo below, a bunch harvested recently:

Oregano (Oreganum sp.) is a staple in my garden and my kitchen; I shared a photo of my oregano in early spring, as it was sprouting, and now, it is vigorously growing:

Thyme is also a staple in my garden and my kitchen. In addition to regular thyme, there are several other kinds that vary in scent and tones; in the photo below, my lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus) featuring some delicate white flowers:

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a biennial herb, easy to grow, and essential in the kitchen. In recent years, parsley has also been recognized to contain compounds for good health, such as: flavonoids (prevent cancer), myricetin (lower blood sugar levels), and vitamin K (bone strength and calcium absorption). I have curly and flat-leaf parsley in my herb collection, and at this point, plants are at all stages of development; some of the second-year are bolting, others are already tough, but some late sprouts are still tender, as seen in the photo below:

And to round up the bunch, spearmint (Mentha spicata), once planted, always present, continues to grow and propagate in my garden, as seen in the photo below, growing close to the house wall: