Summer Solstice is upon us once again. The high point of the Summer when everything in Nature is lush and abundant. This year the weather has been pretty good since March so it seems like we have had Summer for a long time already. We have also had lots of rain which combined with the warmth has enabled rapid growth of everything.
Now is a good time to propogate shrubs from cuttings. There’s always a place for new plants to be slotted in. Otherwise the abundance of the season can be shared with friends. A free plant always brings a smile to someones face.
A nice bunch of flowers is another welcome gift. This arrangement was collected from the garden yesterday morning. Given to a friend who is retiring from work, it brought a beaming smile of appreciation. The flowers were placed in a glass which I then covered with this organza bag which was saved from I gift I had recieved. I always save nice packagings, ribbons and gift bags to be reused and recycled.
For me Foxgloves are the flower of Summer Solstice. They self seed everywhere here and most of them are left to reach maturity. It would be an insult to remove these gifts from Mother Nature. Far nicer than anything bought at the garden centre with the added bonus of no air miles attached. No patent attached here!
In the vegetable garden there is lots of produce. We are harvesting Lettuce, Spring Onions, Beetroot, Peas, Broad Beans and Mangetous right now. The Potatoes are just coming into flower. They will be ready for harvesting about 2 weeks after flowering. Of course leaving them longer gives bigger Potatoes but thats not likely to happen. These are Ballydoon which were planted on St. Patrick’s Day.
Summer Solstice is the time when bonfires are lit to celebrate the season here in north-west Ireland. This tradition which has been going on since Pagan times has died out in other parts of the country but alive and well in this area. It is now called St. John’s Night, the celebration of the birth of John the Baptist. Like many other Pagan celebrations it was masked by Christians as the celebration of a saint’s day.
To conclude I wish you all health, happiness and abundance at this special time of the Summer Solstice. Happy Days!
Bridget x
arignagardener 
Fabulous! I especially loved learning about St. John’s night! 🙂
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I am so behind in blogging! lol! A belated happy Solstice to you Bridget! Your garden is so very lovely. big hugs!! Leslie
I did a double take at your comment that the weather has been pretty good since March, Bridget! Here in London (and probably rest of England) it could have been better – too much wind and rain! Everything is very lush and green though and the wild honeysuckle is out which is wonderful as I catch the scent on drifts of air. Lovely, lovely foxgloves! I had a conversation this afternoon with a friend about a ‘wildflower’ area in a public park which is full of large thuggish weeds; we agreed that self-seeding flowers like honeywort, borage and foxgloves would be an ideal alternative!
We’ve had a lot of foxglove too this year, and a cold and cloudy spring. Although we had some sun on the soltice – it doesn’t seem fair, the longest day has come and gone and it still feels like winter! I love the driveway!
This is definitely the year of the foxglove.
all health, happiness and abundance to you as well! Summer has arrived in all her glory.
Good morning Bridget .. beautiful photos .. is the top (garden) photo part of your latest garden area using those rocks? It looks very welcoming. Oh, I was trying to “not” make cuttings from shrubs, because I end up with so many, but .. hmmm…. maybe I’ll continue!
🙂
That first pic is of the bed I see from the kitchen window and just up from the back door. When we arrived here that bit of raised ground had only the Birch tree growing there. The rest has been planted over a few years. The stones are from the ruin of an old house in our back field. Andy built the steps with old stone slabs also from that house. It’s been done a few years now, before I started blogging.
Absolutely beautiful and I remember when you were working to move those old stone slabs! Stunning.
Happy Solstice Bridget! Your foxgloves are beautiful. x
Happy Solstice Bridget! Having a well deserved lie in here in the leaba with the rain pouring down. Life has been busy, so it’s lovely to check back in with your blog and find you are as enthusiastic and full of life as ever, here’s to a bit of summer one of these days, lovely post:~)
Raining here too. Enjoy the lie in. Happy Solstice!
Was trying to remember when to dig up the potatoes once they had started flowering. I like your drive by the way.
Lovely pictures of your garden Bridget – and a great solstice post – I love this time of year and the light nights – it always seems strange to think of going to bed when it is still light outside, but it does mean spending the evenings in the garden instead of being shut up indoors (weather permitting of course).
What a lovely garden and a great location!!! I love all that green lushness. Everything looks so beautiful
! I wonder why they chose St. John for the Solstice? There was always some connection between the festival and the saint they dedicated the time/site to.
This time here in Luxor was traditionally the start of the Nile inundation where the Pharaoh as ‘God’ was brought in procession from temple to temple to re-energise the connection between God and Goddess, the Nile and the land. It was all about creation and fertility, just like the home fires of Bridget!
Have a wonderful Solstice and if you go to any fires throw something in for me!
Ann
Happy days! No wonder your friend smiled on receipt of the bunch of flowers – so very pretty
Mother Nature’s bouquets are always superior to shop bought ones! I love your welcome pot and foxgloves x Happy Solstice!
Beautiful grounds and bouquet! Thank you for the lovely post.
Too true about the foxgloves – I can’t really have too many of them. I dig up self sown seedlings and transplant to different areas of the garden too. D
Happy Solstice! It’s here with a overly dramatic flair in Boston – highs in the upper 90s (F) today and tomorrow. But still welcome in the long run. 😉
Michael
What a beautiful post for the Longest Day! Thank you so much for sharing the abundant, gorgeous landscape and plants with us via your blog. It’s a lovely gift for the Summer Solstice! Blessings & Happy Summer!
Happy Solstice !
The same to you, Bridget! Not only are your flowers lovely, but your scenery is as well. What a treat for the eyes!
Karla
The posy is stunning…as is your garden!
Jane x
Beautiful photos,Bridget and a lovely posy of flowers for your friend.
Happy Summer Solstice 🙂
Stunning pics and a beautifully welcome array of colour to behold during a chilly Cape Town winter for me. The foxgloves are a wonderful reminder of my childhood in the UK.