Summer

This summer has been really special.  We have enjoyed mild temperatures and rain.  During a typical Kansas summer, we have a significantly different landscape by late-August - brown grass, trees starting to drop leaves, and a finished garden.

Our weather pattern has allowed us to extend the enjoyment of some of the things we love.

One simple thing is to be outside for more than a few minutes.  When it is over 100 degrees with high humidity, you rush around outside to make it back to air conditioned interiors.  When you have a temperature in the 80s, even with high humidity, it is a different ballgame.  You might linger a little longer outside.

 Our flowers have extended their blooms. The cosmos in the garden offer a brilliant pop of color.  Small dainty blooms.

 Our sunflowers were planted on a whim during one of my last late spring plantings.

 I have really enjoyed watching each flower bloom.  This picture is a favorite - watching the bloom "wake up."

 This particular variety, Lemon Queen, attracts pollinators galore and ends up being an impressive, towering plant.

Every Kansas garden needs a few sunflowers.

We are looking forward to the fall and the next garden season.

It's fall

Fall has arrived in Kansas and I am so very happy for so many reasons.

The temperatures are cooler. (Finally!)

Fall favorites like pumpkin inspired foods (bread, lattes, everything!), hot cocoa, and layers are returning.

Our state fair is held in September.  I love the state fair - in small doses.

It's football season!

And, in Kansas, we have wild sunflowers everywhere.

I traveled for work and had a week out of state.  I was so excited when our plane landed and I saw that the sunflowers were still in bloom.  It was a treat to see these giant sprays of flowers along the roads, sometimes filling entire expanses of land and other times, just a lone plant anchored between the cracks of the pavement.

This Kansas girl loves her sunflowers.

Summer travel: Chicago

 We just returned from a short visit to Chicago.  I had a conference for work and Jeremy was able to travel along.  We made schedules work and stayed on an extra day to see the city.

We really love Chicago.  And, we always try to stay just long enough to get our fill of city life before retreating back to the country.

For the past couple of visits, my assignment has been to find agriculture in the city.  It's been a fun challenge to think about how city dwellers connect with nature and source their food.  We often talk about how we imagine the lives of people who live in the city - not mowing a yard seems really unusual to us.

We enjoy the gardens and sculpture areas near Millennium and Grant Parks.  We took a break in the natural area near the Cloud Gate (or The Bean).  The paving along the path looked to be natural stone and about the thickness of a counter top.  These pieces of stone were set together on edge to form this beautiful walkway between beds of plans.  We really liked this idea.

 This Kansas girl always seems to find sunflowers.  We found a farmers market the first afternoon near the Museum of Contemporary Art.  It happened to be the free day for that museum and we enjoyed walking around the farmers market and taking in the art exhibits.  Later that night, they had free jazz on the terrace.

It was a great trip!  The food we enjoyed is worth a whole post of its own.

The Great Sunflower Project

Hobby Farm Home magazine, www.hobbyfarmhome.com, has an article in the May/June 2009 issue about the Great Sunflower Project. Gardners can sign up to plant a sunflower and survey the number of bees it attracts twice a month. The goal is to spend 30 minutes or less and to spot five bees.

The star variety for this year's effort is Lemon Queen. The Project will send you a packet of seeds to plant and provide growing tips. Go to www.greatsunflower.org to sign up and to learn more.

With the decline in bees, this is a great cause and assistance in the research of natural pollinators.