Independence Day!

Few of you may know this, but the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love, love, love it. 

I love the flag bunting on my cute white house, I love making pie with star shaped red white and blue sprinkles.

I love the beer and cheeseburgers (American cheese ONLY, thank you very much) and more than anything I love this crazy, mixed up but ultimately awesome and freedom loving country that I am privileged to be a citizen of. It doesn't hurt that my man made it to the White House, either. It also doesn't hurt that I'm watching the Boston Pops fireworks program, and Ray Charles is singing America the Beautiful. Super Awesome!

Speaking of hard working, I had the luxury of working hard all day today, under slightly cloudy skies, the occasional nice breeze, and with the fine company of my doggies.

I started with planting the box full of spider day lilies that my mother sent me. They should be quite stunning-they have a very tropical look what with their thin, elongated petals and exotic colors. Here's an example:

Proof that there's nothing my Mom can't do, she included in the lily gift box a garlic braid, from her garden and braided with her own two hands:

I've got it hanging in the dining room so it can dry out completely.

Next came the accidental cleaning of my garage gutters. Accidental because I happened to see my neighbor, Louise, and asked her about a ladder, which I needed to do the job. She not only had one, but insisted on holding the ladder. I took an amazing amount of gunk out, and did her garage gutters since I was already dirty.

At that point I realized I had to deliver something to my friends at work before they all left for the day:

I had to take some to my sweet Jared who had to work today-and I thought it would make everyone's day a little brighter. It was coconut cream, which I don't think I've had in a decade. The crust was painted with dark chocolate before filling with the coconut custard, and I think that's the way to go. It was so rich and yummy, I may just have to put it in my repertoire.

Back at the urban garden, it was time to divide and replant the hostas. I also rearranged many of them. Since they've had a few years to grow out, I've had the opportunity to see that some have grown more or less than expected. I've also learned that sometimes the best thing you can do for a garden is to take something out and put it somewhere else. As a result of all this planting, dividing, and rearranging, I believe the back yard fence garden is more lush, dense and attractive.

The tall silver feathery plants in the background are a native prairie sage:

Here's a panorama, from the far east side following the fence to the far west side:

Note the cute little grapes:

This grapevine was on the original chain link fence that came with the house. We had to cut it away to remove the fence, and I had really forgotten about it until this year, when it presented itself with great gusto. We like it, and I think we'll encourage it to grow along the new wood fence. It seems to add a bit of weight and age to this quite new garden.

This is my favorite hosta of them all, and one that I did not divide this year. It's name is Abiquita Drinking Gourd, and if you look closely at this photo you can see why:

The morning glories are finally starting to climb up their tree trellises, as are the hops. I hope that sooner rather than later the trellis will be covered in flowers so the neighbors stop thinking I'm weird.

That's about it for the flower garden in the back yard. Next time, an overview of the veggies, which are doing very well!