Bloom Day and Bloom's Day

Oh, Sorry everyone but I thought that this Sunday was the 15th and I completely missed Bloom Day. I took lots of pictures last night and then realized that it was the 16th! No matter - I will post what is blooming in my garden tonight.

A literary note: The phrase "Bloom's Day" has been developed from the great work of James Joyce, Ulysses. It is the extremely detailed, symbolic and sometimes maddening literary work telling of one day in the life of Leopold Bloom and his emotional and physical journey through 1904 Dublin on June 16th. The characters mirror the individuals who people the epic poem of Homer's Odyssey . It is quite a difficult read and I've been tackling it bit by bit with the help of a reader's guide - it is interesting, but tough, going. I choose to savor his wonderful writing in very small bites - much easier to digest. Anyway, back to Bloom's Day.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia that explains it somewhat:
Bloomsday—June 16th—is an annual celebration among Joyce fans throughout the world, from Fort Lauderdale to Melbourne. It is celebrated in at least sixty countries worldwide, but nowhere so imaginatively, of course, as in Dublin. There the events of Leopold Bloom's day are reenacted by anyone who cares to participate, and his itinerary is followed all across Dublin.

I find it very interesting that a book that is not easily accessible to the general reader (myself included) has garnered such a seemingly intense and staunch audience.

The large part of my gardening is finished and now there will be the occasional weeding, watering, and deadheading. That, to me, is the easy part. We've had a hot and dry week here and each night when I get home, I'm watering container plantings. It's fun to do in the dark because I hear and smell things that are only apparent at night.

Here are some of the pretties that are in bloom a few days after Bloom Day:

Larkspur and Coreopsis


Petunias and a pig and Dianthus


Iceberg and Nearly Wild
... Stella de Oro and Madame Hardy

Window boxes under our bedroom window .....with pretty Goat's Beard

Lovely petunias, Alyssum and a lone daylily

Fantastic celosia!

Tippy pots ......... the welcome bear ..........Asiatic lily

Campanula .........Goat's Beard .........a small shrub rose I grew from seed.

Rugosa rose and Sweet William in the vegetable garden ....

A new type of "African" impatient.

The gardens are so beautiful now and I'm full of satisfaction.

Take full account of the excellencies which you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not. Marcus Aurelius

Bye for now,

Alyssa