In all the years that I been gardening, I have always spent a lot of quality time wandering around my yard, observing and checking on the status of all of my “little guys.”  And I always notice who is getting ready to bloom, who is getting chewed on, and all of the minor details that only a true gardeners really can be aware of. But lately,  the wandering has been more extreme — getting home from work and rehashing my day, upcoming projects/conversations and trying to get my thoughts organized while also checking on the poises. And depending on how recently I have managed to deadhead and weed, I’m either giddy or groaning. When I am giddy, it is sometimes the overall impression that is striking — the riot of color and texture — but sometimes it is one little spot that I am particularly taken with. I have started calling them vignettes. It could be the combination of colors (orange with purple, yellow and pink, blue and red, etc.), or a few blooms that came together in a particularly fetching way. Whatever the reason, it makes me smile. And sometimes I try and take a picture and then I remember my photography skills leave a lot to be desired — I should work on that.

Mallow, callengula, bachelor buttons behind the retaining wall.

A dailia I randomly bought last year and came up in a pot, next to asters, marigolds and parsley

Bachelor buttons, callengula and chamomile in the herb bed

nasturiums amid the basils, lemon balm, feverfew

mallow, cosmos and bachelor buttons behind the retaining wall