Red Butte in August

It's time for an update about what's looking good at Red Butte Garden. The short answer is everything. Roses are the big draw right now.

I'm having a lot of trouble , as I was with the daffodils, in selecting my favorites.

Maybe this.

It's hard to resist the yellow ones.

But there are so many sweet pink ones.

Or the multi colored ones. Red and yellow isn't usually a combination that works well, but check these out.

These orange ones are right by the main entrance and my friend Layne takes great care of them.

Here are some orange ones in the new rose garden.

Oh, I just can't decide.

But I have been spending whole days, like today for example, deadheading roses to make them all look the best.
We are mostly doing deadheading, a bit of weeding (in many areas we don't really find that many weeds right now), tidying up, and a bit of cutting back.

We have cut back a lot of lavender because the heads are all dry right now. We probably will get another  round of flowers.

I chopped back the thyme here along the walkway one day.

Here are the day lillies I tidied up one morning.

Speaking of day lillies, we still have a few in bloom.

I filled a big pop-up container with brown leaves from these Beverly Sills irises. It's a good thing the flowers are so gorgeous or else I would have been inclined towards a scorched earth policy here.

But here's why you should come for a visit right now. This view of the four season garden is just the best.

The fragrance garden really does look like a meadow.

We've got flowers everywhere.

I've been told the name of this beaded plant, but I can't seem to remember the name. Maybe you know.

These smoke bushes are so cool looking.

I like these almost black scabiosas.

Speaking of black, these peppers just sparkle in the sun. I'm told they are REALLY REALLY HOT to eat so I probably won't ever try them out.

And I love these bi-colored lemons.
So if you're in town, please come to walk in the garden. There's so much to see.

Back in the City

I am back at my little apartment in the city. I'll be here for a month or so and then go back to the little town in the hills for awhile longer... until the weather changes or I need to go back or until it just feels like the right thing to do.

I am glad to be back here in the city because I do miss things here when I am away, mostly friends. I am always delighted the way people greet me when I return to some place ... like maybe I'm a long lost dear friend, which maybe I am. I'm also glad to get back to things like walking each day to get coffee which I did yesterday and today. Both days I didn't just get coffee; I also got breakfast pastry at two lovely places. Tomorrow I'll  do gardening Red Butte so it will be breakfast at home and then coffee to go. I'm looking forward to that.

I have been thinking about this indulgence of maintaining two homes ... two small homes, but nevertheless two homes. It certainly is a luxury and of course not at all "minimal." I never really planned this arrangement; it just kind of happened. But now that it has happened, I find I really like this lifestyle and would not want to go back to just being in one place all the time.

 I was contemplating how I would feel about the city if I had lived here constantly for the past 6 years. I think that by now I would be very unhappy with living in the city. I find that I know I am glad to return here and to be here because I know I won't be here all the time. I have some place else.

And it's the same with my small town home. I am very glad to escape the summer in the city. I am very grateful I don't have to spend winter in the small town. Doing that year after year would also make me a bit crazy.

Someone asked me if I don't get lonely in the little town because I do know many more people in the city. My answer was no, never. I find a huge difference between being alone and being lonely. I have rarely been lonely at any time in my life. I don't know why, don't know my secret that has caused me to be sort of immune to that feeling. I also don't know any advice to give to anyone else who does suffer from loneliness.

So right now I am doing things around the apartment to improve my space. I've decided to get rid of some furniture pieces that have not proved to be as useful as I thought when I got them. That's good. It's feeling like a burden being lifted. I've packed up some more stuff to move into the permanent place in the country. I'm going to re-arrange some artwork on the walls. I'm debating about whether I do want to sign up for Comcast for say 6 months once winter is about to set in. The jury is still out about that, and I don't have to decide until maybe October or November. We'll see.

I heard a comment on the radio today about how Americans may be hunkering down at the moment, not spending money on things, just waiting to see how the economy goes. I certainly feel rather frightened about what might could happen to us all in the near future. I had already decided to hunker down even more than usual no matter what happened out in the world. I know this will be good for me. I don't know about my part in keeping the economy going.