Woodland flowers

Brain and I found ourselves in South Milwaukee the other day on a sunny late afternoon. There's a historic mansion on the golf course that needed some exploring, then we headed out to the Seven Bridges Trail.

How can it be a violet if it's yellow? Maybe it's a viola.

Apparently, the Seven Bridges Trail that we followed is known for paranormal activity. We noted none.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (above) must have kept that away while we were there.

Trillium-above- is my very favorite. It's a woodland sprite, elusive, delicate, threatened by invasive weeds.

Westlawn flowers

Just west of Growing Power on Silver Spring (at about 63rd Street or so) is this bountiful flower garden. It always strikes me as so colorful and amazing. It really brightens up the government-style housing at Westlawn. It makes such a difference.

Weed bouquet

Today is the 11th anniversary of my marriage to Brain. He doesn't get me flowers, ever, using his half-Vulcan logic: "You have flowers," broadly indicating the yard. This year, though, all I have are weeds. And a fairly good excuse to not have gotten rid of them. (Though I had eradicated the evil garlic mustard previously, at least). I missed the peonies' bloom- pushing aside the taller-than-myself weeds revealed only shriveled brown. I had hoped to snip a bouquet for myself, at the very least.

Since many of my neighbors care meticulously about their own lawn appearances, particularly those directly next door in either direction, this is especially frustrating.

So today, Brain, ever the practical pragmatist, weeded the front flowerbeds for me. Ah, mature love. That, and the perfectly cooked steak he has been making for me.

Nature's beauty

Here are two colorful nature shots sent to me that really brightened my dark days and I wanted to share them with you. I cropped them, but no other photoshop-type editing was done. Their beauty is pure and unadulterated.

My mom sent me this: "hens and chicks" flowering on her deck. They don't flower reliably, so this is kind of special.

She and her husband have green thumbs and a gorgeous outdoor space, with plenty of Western sun, but set up with so much lush vegetation that you really could believe it's a tropical paradise. I love it out there. I hope I can make it out there tomorrow for my and my brother's combined birthday celebration.

One of the women from my knitting group, Lori Kangas Ahrenhoerster, posted this photo of robin's eggs (above) on her Facebook page (giving me permission to repost). She took it with a cell phone camera- capturing that amazing glowing blue that only Salvador Dali was ever able to reproduce with paint, to my knowledge- the blue of the sky during a perfect clear dusk, the translucent blue that I could just get lost in. I hope your computer screen does it justice.

I don't mind the rain

Look what it brought. Lupines!

Alliums, a giant onion.

White bleeding hearts. Janine from Gracious Gardens gave me this plant- it's now huge.

Yellow irises, one of my favorites. I liberated their rhizomes from the nearby neglected cemetery- the grave of a 12-year-old girl was covered with them like a sack of potatoes; the rhizomes were so choked together that the flowers weren't coming anymore, only swords. Now they bloom again in the cemetery too.