Happy 4th of July!

It was a quiet day for us - we started the day as we do every Sunday, with a walk at the Arboretum. Then I worked in the garden and my husband spent the day repairing the deck, where we'd taken out a fence who's posts were embedded in the deck. A messy, detailed job, but he did well. 

When I went out late this afternoon to take a blip, the front garden was absolutely covered with pollinators: bees, flies, butterflies, dragon flies and all sorts of flying insects that I didn't recognize. It's the most I think I've ever seen. Not sure if it was the warm afternoon on a day when there was a lot in bloom, or the season, or perhaps they've merely been called to the garden by their friends :-)

Anyway, this isn't quite the first dahlia of the season, but it's surely one of my faves. I can't remember this one's name although it might be 'Rosella' - it looks a little purple for that cultivar. I left all the dahlias in the ground this winter, and they've all come up beautifully. The only difference with digging them is that they get an earlier start in the potting shed. 

Hope your 4th of July has been a pleasant one, if you're celebrating!