The Last of the Summer Annuals

As early as I can in late winter,

I plant pansies in planters around the garden

I adore pansies

And they adore Kansas late winter

And early Spring

But once it gets hot

they start to fade!

The back flower box holds pansies from March through May

Sometime after Memorial Day I trade out the pansies

And sometimes I'm lucky and my summer plants are on sale!

And yesterday and today,

I replaced the last of the pansies in the garden

White begonias in that same flower box

A brick background, an iron pigeon and bronze leaf white blooming begonias

The wooden planter got planted with red begonias

But I left the pansies -- there may be some bloom left in them

The faux bois planter on the baker's rack in the garden

Bronze leaf red begonias

I'm not one for exotic plants for the planters in the garden

Give me traditional geraniums and begonias

They are workhorses in the garden and always give me a summer worth of bloom

We had our "days" today

A ritual of midwestern small towns

Booths, food, bands line the main street downtown

We eat funnel cakes and ice cream

Partake of BBQ for lunch

And sometimes find something to bring home

Today it was a new hummingbird feeder

I like it but, alas, it was not guaranteed

But we do have hummers that visit Linderhof's garden

Hung from the pergola where it can be seen from the breakfast room

And we can enjoy the hummer's antics!

After a busy day downtown, dinner needed to be easy

What we call macaroni and hamburger but which others call

Goulash or Slumgullion

It's an easy and cheap meal

And brings back memories of our childhoods!