By Galway Kinnell

The bud stands for all things,

even for those things that don’t flower,

for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;   

though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness,

to put a hand on its brow of the flower

and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely

until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;   

as Saint Francis put his hand on the creased forehead

of the sow, and told her in words and in touch   

blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow   

began remembering all down her thick length,   

from the earthen snout all the way

through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,   

from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine   

down through the great broken heart

to the sheer blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering   

from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing beneath them:

the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

Ok – Here we go – new blooms.  I am in love with Purple Thunderbird.  Another Ned Roberts spider that is in bloom for the first time in my yard.  I didn’t realize it until I took off photos tonight . . . but I went back for photos like 5 different times.

Other newbies that opened for the first time this year – Tiger Kitten.  She is a petite little tiger.

And, Royal Palace Prince – whose first bloom was messed up by bugs a little.  Always feel sorry for the ones whose first buds make them look a little goofy.

We are fast running out of scapes from unbloomed daylilies for 2018.  Still hoping for a few late scapes and rebloomers.  I had 40 in bloom today.  We are at 119 total cultivators for 2018 out of 175 or so.  I know of 4 or 5 that have not yet bloomed.  So, let’s call it 123.  We will hit 70% if all those bloom.  I am happy with that, given we only got 48% or something last year.  Big improvement for a drought year.

Finales:

Return a Smile 7.19

Red Hot Returns 7.19

And, yesterday (forgotten):

Strutter’s Ball 7.18