It took me a while before I realized that these bushes, which bloom at exactly the same time as the wild roses, are not wild roses. It’s easy to look at the mass of white blossoms all over the property and assume they’re all the same thing.

These lovelies are dogwood – silky dogwood – and they grow along the edge of the property right above the Secret Garden. And in the Secret Garden. And also at the back entrance of the property as you walk into the woods from my neighbor’s meadow. They’re what I call ‘frothy.’

I haven’t written about them before and it’s high time I did.

We sat in the Secret Garden this morning, marveling at the natural beauty there. It just is. The only plants that have been brought in are the pots that I plant every year. Everything else is nature’s design. We listened to what I call our morning symphony. Birds singing, the bullfrog croaking, the occasional hum of a bee. Goodness, it’s beautiful there.

But it’s still very hot here. This will be our third day with temperatures in the nineties. There’s a heat advisory today. So we appreciate that time in the garden because all too soon we’ll have to shut everything up and run the a/c. Tomorrow will be a bit better, though it will also bring rain and thunderstorms as this front breaks up

Because of the heat, there’s been constant activity in the birdbath. I’m going to top it off after I finish this post.

Oh, and we had warning chirps again yesterday from the robins. I tried to see if there were any fledglings on the ground, but nothing stood out. Later, Don went outside and heard the same chirping and saw a brown bird fly from the ground in front of the shed onto the low branch of a tree. So mom and dad are still watching out for the babies.

I’m going to paint this morning. I’m not sure what, but I’ll play it by ear. Don’s going to do some recording. He’s writing a new song.

Oh, the catalpas are in bloom. Heaven.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.