“August is one of the hottest months of the northern year…’twixt the flower and the fruit.” Hal Borland, Naturalist and Author It has been a warm summer, with August scheduled to bring on the heat. The hot days of this month showcase my seasonal favorite flowers. The Naked Ladies are back! When the calendar page flips to August and the days are long and hot, these gorgeous Amaryllis belladonnas shoot their bare stems skyward. Their fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers in various

“Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Henry James With the 250th birthday of our nation in 2026, many gardens are cloaked in red, white, and blue. A top garden design trend this year is patio culture, and with the semiquincentennial front of mind, I call it star-spangled living. Most Americans love being outdoors, and summertime is our sandbox. Whether our patio is in the front, back, or side

“What is a weed? A flower whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”~ Emerson Because of the late-season rains, the weeds have been overwhelming. I have been pulling, cutting, smothering, and eliminating “these flowers whose virtues have not yet been discovered” since early March. I’m now on my third round of weeding. Yes, many of the weeds have pretty flowers, including vetch, bindweed, cut leaf geranium, Italian thistle, euphorbia, hemlock, and a plethora of grasses. Dand

“If an herb looks nice in a border, then why not grow it there? Why not grow anything anywhere, so long as it looks right where it is? That is, surely, the art of gardening.” Vita Sackville-West If you have ever had the delight of visiting Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, you will have experienced one of the most romantic and influential gardens of England. Novelist and poet Vita Sackville-West and her diplomat, politician, and author husband, Sir Harold George Nicolson, designed

“With joy and poetry, sunshine feels cozy. Spring is blooming with the power of posies.” Cynthia Brian Do you remember holding hands with friends, walking in a circle, singing the children’s nursery rhyme, “Ring-a-round the rosie, a pocket full of posies?” The origin of the song is unknown, but it has been attributed to the Bubonic Plague or Black Death beginning in 1347. A posy (also spelled posie) is a small bunch of flowers given as a gift. In the Victorian era, the select

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MIRACLE MOMENT® “May the sun bring you new energy by day. May the moon softly restore you by night. May the rain wash away your worries....

by Cynthia Brian https://cynthiabrian.substack.com/p/leading-with-joy Press Pass: https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2023/04/24/live-with-joy...

Miracle Moment® “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” Coretta Scott...