Glads and Dahlias are Blooming

This is what has been showing up in my flower garden in the last couple of weeks...beautiful! I always say I'm going to cut them to bring in as bouquets and occasionally I do, but more often I leave them growing so I have something extra to look forward to when I go outside. Every year I get more and more, so maybe one of these years I'll feel like I have more than enough outside and I'll fill up the house with these beautiful blooms.

There will be about 50 members (maybe more!) of my husband's extended family at our house this weekend for a family reunion. So we've been spending time straightening up things outside. Those beautiful blooms pictured above had to be staked so they wouldn't fall to their ground from their own weight.I also needed to clean up the mess that had been the flower bed around my garden oblisque. Once the weeds had been pulled out and hauled away, it was actually pretty fun to spend some time training the sweet pea vines onto the oblisque. The sweet peas are a perinneal variety, they didn't come in too well last summer, but this summer they're flourishing! I moved my favorite mosaic garden bench in front of this trellis, which is also home to beautiful sweet peas, to create an additional seating area for this weekend...I thought it turned out nice, I may just keep it there for the summer and move it back to the entry way when it is cold again in the fall.

Can I say again how much I love summer??