Late Summer Flower Medicine

Late summer is an incredible time on the homestead. It is the season of fruition when so much of our efforts “show themselves” in the form of delightful flowers!

Take a walk with me as we go around the homestead taking a deep whiff of the bounty of beauty that is here!

Some of these flowers were taken from my mom and dad’s place in Indiana, where I grew up. My mom, @birdsinparadise, had an amazingly diverse array of flowers that she grew, mostly perennials. By the time they moved, she had worked out the flowering so that something was nearly always blooming!

This pink flowering sedum is from her. It’s the first time it’s bloomed and I love seeing it.

Sedum with a cockscomb

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There are also some “volunteers” I’ve been coaxing along.

I am a very lax flower bed gardener. I’m not trying to kill myself here to have the best maintained or perfectly weed free beds... I just want a thriving diversity!

One flower I am very happy to have here (that I will write a full post on one of these days) is the Moonflower aka Sacred Datura. This was a “weed” that showed up. I’m very happy to have it here. In the evenings it attracts so many insects with its glorious smell!

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Next is another naturalized flower.

It is one that is re-flowering. I thought this was finished as it’s already had a flower set turn to seed.

Mullein

I love this plant- a very formidable Medicine as well! Can you see the spider hanging out?

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Next we have a favorite plant that has flowered and gone to seed, the stinging nettle.

As its name suggests, this plant has a bite! And we love to bite it, after we cook it, as it’s chocked full of nutrients!

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This next plant is a re-seeded volunteer.

Its sugary stocks make a syrup that is boiled down in the Ozarks often. A tasty treat! We just grow these tall babes for fun. I love to mix up the flowers on the homestead tall, short & in between :)

Sorghum

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We also have marigolds that are gracing the understory of another flower, the cosmos. I love growing marigolds as companion plants as they often confuse bad bugs who would thwart our tomatoes!

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Each year I like to add a few flowers here and there and collect the seeds for the next year. I also favor perennials which will return year to year.

When I first moved here I had the desire to plant plant plant, getting so much in the ground... yet like so much, everything takes time and patience. A homestead is built with the patient peeling back of soil to tuck root by root and the sowing of seeds year to year in hope of late summer majesty.

I find flowers a most practical addition to any garden. Why is that? Because flowers delight the spirit and nourish the soul (not to mention they attract an amazing host of birds, insects and other wildlife). This nourishment gives us inspiration and courage along our path, which is sometimes just as important as food.

For without motivation, we don’t get very far for very long. I’m so thankful for these flowers and how they enrich my life. I greet them with a gentle smile.