Celebrating: Echinacea

I returned to the Arboretum after what seemed like a time too long away. The news from the gardens is this. The roses are climbing the trellises, as they should. The dahlias have started to open. The lily pond is entering its days of summer splendor. There are more cherry bells (campanula) than I have ever seen in one place at one time. The irises, the smaller ones, are providing some glorious purples. Fat bumblebees are feasting on fancy milkweed in the pollinator garden. But the story of the day - the GLORY if you will - is echinacea. They have begun to open everywhere, and they are perfect, each and every one.

My soundtrack tune is a cover of a Tom Petty favorite, performed this time by the Wailin' Jennys: Wildflowers.